Hmmmm. I don't know, either. Especially when we are talking about Aikido.

First, the politics in Aikido (be it: internationally, nationally, regionally or even locally) is nothing short of a Byzantine court intrigue that is not likely go away anytime soon...considering Aikido still operates under an only slightly modernized "ryu-ha" concept of complex alliances & loyalties.

Aikido did have a "roundtable of experts"...the uchi deshi of O'Sensei. However, that didn't seem to work out too well, either. Also, now that most are dead or else in retirement, how one will define "expert" will be the new challenge. Since its founding, the Aikido world defined it by relationship to O'Sensei. We have always given more weight to the opinions of uchi deshi. The "apostles of Aikido" if you will.

When the remaining uchi-deshi are gone, Aikido will then finally leave its "apostolic age" and move into a new era. Who knows what will happen to the art?