GEORGE SOROS IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS

Irada BAGIROVA

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Irada Bagirova, D.Sc. (Hist.), head of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences History of the Caucasus Department (Baku, Azerbaijan)

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Open Society in the Caucasus—Illusions vs. Reality

Recently, so much attention has been focused on George Soros, a prominent international financier and philanthropist with the number of articles written about him—both enthusiastic and critical, sincere and openly biased—growing by geometric progression, that it would be quite appropriate to clarify some of the central concepts of his philosophy in general and his activities in the Southern Caucasus in particular. Interest in this personality particularly increased in connection with the war on Iraq, as well as with the latest presidential elections in Georgia and the United States. Soros the philanthropist is becoming increasingly involved in political life, openly showing his sympathies and antipathies, his likes and dislikes, which of course cannot but evoke a response from both the mass media and the political elite in different countries, which does not take criticism too well.

The present article does not aim to analyze Soros’ political activities or to rebuff his critics, which, in the opinion of the present author, he does not need. As a board member of one of the national Soros foundations in the Southern Caucasus, I would like to reflect on the basic principles of Open Society and their importance for regional development, and also to assess the extent to which George Soros’ ideas are implemented by these national foundations.

George Soros took an active interest in the concept of Open Society in the 1940s, when he was at the London School of Economics. He survived the Nazi occupation of Budapest and left communist Hungary in 1947 for England, where he graduated from the LSE. While a student at LSE, Soros became familiar with the work of…………………

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