Program Information

The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the rise of America's secret government, Part TWO

Series:

Subtitle:

Program Type:

Weekly Program

Featured Speakers/Commentators:

Contributor:

Maria Gilardin Contact Contributor

Date Published:

Jan. 12, 2016, 7:46 p.m.

Summary: This is a conversation between two authors who dedicated their work to revealing the under-cover world of US politics. David Talbot is doing it here in the form of a real life spy thriller - The Devil's Chessboard - a book that is more intriguing than current fiction. Peter Dale Scott calls the invisible government the Deep State and has written several books defining the term.

In this second part of their conversation Scott and Talbot begin with the aftermath of WWII where the future of war time intelligence services, and the future relations to the USSR and what became the Cold War, are being decided.

President Truman resisted the conversion of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) into the CIA. However Allen Dulles had different plans. He had rejoined Sullivan and Cromwell, a law firm with huge impact on international affairs, and powerful corporate clients.

Dulles also had close relations with the Council on Foreign Relations. Founded in 1921 and still very active today, it is a think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy, headquartered in New York City. The CFR promotes globalization, free trade, reducing financial regulations, and support regional blocs such as NAFTA or the TPP. These are the forces that shaped post war policy more than any actions by the post war US administration.

Credits: Recorded by the Mechanics Institute staff in San Francisco on December 2, 2015.

Notes:

Version 1: