Council on Foreign Relations

According to its mission statement, the Council on Foreign Relations, "is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries. Founded in 1921, the Council takes no institutional positions on matters of policy."

While it is a quite overt organization, it still has acquired a mystique in some listings of secret societies.