THE INFLUENCE OF SOROS

A close analysis of the causes the Hungarian-born billionaire has promoted and fought against over the decades.

George Soros (b. 1930) has an undeniable influence on the political and economic process in the U.S. and elsewhere. The question is: Is it good or bad? Former Foreign Policy staff writer Tamkin examines the sources of his power and his interests in using it to achieve extrapersonal ends. As a pioneer in hedge funds, for instance, he has become “perhaps the most famous currency speculator in history,” his earnings outstripping the economies of entire countries. He has used much of his fortune to promote his Open Society initiatives, in turn inspired by the philosopher Karl Popper, who, like Soros, had witnessed the rise of totalitarian powers in Europe early in the 20th century but did not live to see Hungary return to autocratic rule. Indeed, by Tamkin’s account, Soros has spent $32 billion “working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.” This has put him squarely in the sights of the right wing, spokespersons for which—Glenn Beck, for one—have accused Soros of collaborating with the Nazis during World War II (he was a child at the time). Rather than spend his fortune suing the perpetrators of such stories, Soros has instead worked within existing systems and laws to build himself up as a person “too powerful to operate in one sense as a citizen of the market and in the other sense as a citizen of the political sphere.” As Tamkin allows, this immense power is in some regards contradictory to the spirit of the “open society,” which pledges equality, particularly equality of access to the political system—for which reason Vladimir Putin has banned Open Society organizations from operating in Russia. Still, Soros continues to promote controversial causes, including immigration reform in the U.S., yet another reason to draw right-wing ire.

A welcome study of a man whose outsize power in the marketplace and public sphere fascinates.