COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, INC. - MEMBERSHIP SELECTION PROCEDURE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83T00966R000100020037-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 12, 2007
• Sequence Number: 37
• Publication Date: March 2, 1982
• Content Type: LETTER

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THE DIRECTOR OF CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
National Intelligence Council
2 March 1982
Miss Lorna Brennan
Secretary for"Membership Affairs
Council on Foreign Relations, Inc.
58 East 68th Street
New York, New York 10021
Dear Miss Brennan:
I am writing to endorse the candidacy of as a term
member of the Council. I have worked wit for several
years and testify to his expertise in the field of international
affairs. As you know, he is now a. Special Assistant to the Director
of Political-Military Affairs in the State Department and is deep-
ening his already substantial knowledge of foreign relations. I
am confident that he would be a useful addition to the roster of
Council members.
Sincerely,
e'hry S : Rowen
Chairman
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United States Department of' State
Director of Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs
Washington, D.C. 20520
February 24, 1982
Mr. Henry Rowen
Chairman
National Intelligence Council
Central Intelligence Agency
Room 7E62
Washington, D.C. 20505
Dear Harry:
Thanks so much for agreeing to second my nomination for term
membership in the Council on Foreign Relations. I am sending Albert
Wohlstetter a letter asking him to write the nominating letter.
Bob Osgood, Rick Burt and Dick Solomon have all agreed to write
supporting letters.
I am enclosing a copy of my vita, a biographical sketch and the
Council's guidelines for membership. They should be of some help
in writing the letter.
I know how terribly busy you are and I appreciate your taking the
time to do this. Thanks again for your support.
Best regards.
STAT
Specia ssistant to the Director
Enclosures: Vita
Bio sketch
Council guidelines
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MEMBERSHIP SELECTION PROCEDURE
Membership in the Council is by invitation of its Board of Directors,
which acts/at least twice a year on a list of candidates proposed to it by the
Membership Committee. That committee, itself chosen with an eye toward main-.
taining diversity, is composed of five members of the Board and six non-members
of the Board who serve for terms of four years. The Council's by-laws require
that at least two of the non-Board members of the Committee be under the age
of 40 when appointed. All names proposed for membership in the Council are re-
ferred to the Membership Committee, which also meets at least twice each year.
Council membership is restricted to U.S. citizens (native-born or naturalized)
and to permanent residents of the United States who have made formal application
to become citizens.
'` In its search for qualified younger candidates, the Membership Committee
is assisted by a special Term Membership Committee consisting of nine Council
members with its chairman drawn from the Membership Committee itself. The Term
Membership Committee meets once each year, usually in the spring, to evaluate
candidates, age 30 and younger, for consideration as five-year term members of
the Council. When the program began in 1970, the Board limited term member-
ships to no more than 10 each year. The program has been so successful, and
the number of highly qualified candidates so great, that the Board has grad-
ually raised the limit on the number of term members elected each year to its
present level of 25.
Procedure for Proposing Candidates
Current procedure requires that every candidate for membership must be
formally proposed in writing by one member and seconded by at least one other
member of the Council. Members of the Council's Board and Membership Committee
are precluded from writing in any candidate's behalf.
Proposing Letters
Letters proposing a candidate for consideration by the Membership Com-
mittee should touch on the following criteria which have always been basic to
the Committee's consideration of membership candidates:
1. Intellectual attainment and expertise;
2. Degree of experience, interest, and current involvement in
international affairs;
3. Promise of.future achievement and service in foreign relations;
4. Potential contributions to Council work;
5. Desire to participate in Council activities;
6. Standing among his or her peers.
To the extent not included in the above, proposing letters should include
biographic information about the candidate (a separate curriculum vitae or a
reference to Who's Who will suffice, where available), which must include his
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or her date of birth and, if foreign-born, a statement that he or she has been
naturalized or is a permanent resident who has made formal application for citi-
zenship. Finally, the proposer should supply the Council with a list of Council
members to whom the candidate is well-known.
2. Seconding Letters
Seconding letters need not be so comprehensive, but should amplify why, in
the opinion of the writer, the given candidate should be considered for Council
membership. Thoughtful insights are far more important than formal endorse-
ments. While technically only one seconding letter is required to assure that
a candidate's name will be forwarded to the Membership Committee, a proposer
will frequently arxang6 one or two additional letters in behalf of his or her
candidate. Such letters are particularly helpful to the Membership Committee
where they add information or insights about a candidate not already contained
in the proposing or seconding letter.
All proposing, seconding and supporting letters should be addressed to
Miss Lorna Brennan, Secretary for Membership Affairs, Council on Foreign
Relations, Inc., 58 East 68th Street, New York, New York 10021.
3. Timetable
The preparation of membership files for submission to the Membership Com-
mittee is a continuing process. Candidates whose files are not completed in
time for any given meeting of the Committee are carried forward, without pre
judice, to the next following meeting.
Membership Committee Guidelines
In considering candidates who come before it, the Membership Committee
is aided by guidelines adopted in 1973. The guidelines include target numbers
that are used as norms for judgment by the Membership Committee in determining
how many members the Council should have in each of several major occupational
groups and geographic areas as well as the appropriate age distribution within
each category. Targets are re-examined annually to take account of the exist-
ing membership and to reflect current needs.
The Membership Committee treats targets as suggestive, not as precise,
rigid quotas. Since quality of the individual under consideration remains the
single most important criterion, the Committee does not lower its admission
standards to meet an arbitrary goal, nor will a candidate, otherwise well-
qualified, be denied election simply because the suggested target number in
his or her occupational or age group has been exceeded. The targets and guide-
lines remind the Committee of the need for balance and diversity in the member-
ship as a whole and help insure that the Council will encompass a wide range
of constituencies and views.
As of June 30, 1980, including those candidates elected by the Board at
its June meeting, total Council membership stood at 2,035, 41% of whom live in
or near New York, 22% in or near Washington, and 37% in other parts of the
United States and overseas. Broken down by profession, 29% of Council members
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are involved in business or banking, 18% as scholars or academic administra-
tors, 17% as government officials, 14% as administrators of non-profit insti-
tutions, 10% as lawyers, 10% as journalists, correspondents, and communications
executives, with 2% in other occupations. Looking at the profile geographi-
cally, suggested targets have been met in Washington in almost all age brackets,
and have been approached in Boston and New York. In New York the category of
banking and finance is already strongly represented at all ages. Application
of the guidelines to the membership profile as of June 30 indicates that the
major occupational group which most needs strengthening is business (commerce
and industry rather than lawyers or bankers) under age 50, including both resi-
dent and non-resident.. Another under-represented area of continuing interest
is labor. Different perspectives and fresh insights can also be provided
through the nomination of candidates from occupations and disciplines not nor-
mally associated with foreign policy. The nomination of candidates from these
areas, from those parts of the country not already well-represented, and of
younger candidates generally will be particularly welcome.
Notification of Candidates
At every meeting the Membership Committee is faced with a list of more
candidates than there are vacancies. Thus it is inevitable that the names of
some candidates will appear before the Committee on several occasions. Given
the high level of the competition generally, some candidates may never be
elected even though they be thought by some to meet the individual qualifica-
tions outlined above.
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Candidates recommended by the Membership Committee and elected by the
Board are so notified, as are their proposers and seconders. Candidates who
are unsuccessful at any meeting are not notified, since they remain eligible
for consideration at subsequent meetings of the Committee. The process is
entirely one of affirmative selection, i.e., from the large and evolving pool
of nominees, the Committee and the Board select a number of members without
prejudice to the candidacies of those remaining in the pool.
John Temple Swing
January 1981
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