GEORGE SOROS IN THE SOUTHERN CAUCASUS

Abstract

 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 Cau
casus 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 philosopher Karl Popper, who had a profound influence on his thinking and later on his
 professional and philanthropic activities. Soros saw Popper as his philosophical guru. Karl Popper was a  committed follower of French philosopher Henri Bergson, a founder and most significant exponent of
 logical positivism. In his works, Bergson posited the reality, not the illusion, of freedom, as embodied,
 above all, in constructive diversity and based on the rule of law.