(2003-08-22) Soros Open Society At Home

George Soros on America's Global Role (May'03). A World Order based on the Sovereignty of states, moreover, cannot take care of our common human interests. The main source of Poverty and misery in the world today is bad government - repressive, corrupt regimes and Failed State-s. And yet it is difficult to intervene in the internal affairs of other countries because the principle of sovereignty stands in the way. One way to overcome the problem is to offer countries positive inducements for becoming open societies... Speaking from experience, I would never choose Iraq for Nation Building. Military occupation is the easy part; what comes afterward is what should give us pause. The internal tensions and the external ones with neighboring countries such as Turkey and Iran will make it very difficult to establish a democratic Iraqi regime. To impose a military regime as Douglas Mac Arthur did in post-WorldWarII Japan would be to court disaster. It would have been easier to achieve success in Afghanistan because both the Taliban and AlQaeda were alien oppressors. But having won a resounding military victory, we failed to follow through with nation building... The George W Bush vision of American supremacy is not only unsound and unsustainable, it is also in contradiction with American values. We are an Open Society. The principles of open society are enshrined in the Declaration Of Independence. And the institutions of our democracy are protected by our US Constitution. The fact that we have a bunch of far-right ideologues in our Executive Branch does not turn us into a totalitarian dictatorship. There are Checks And Balances, and the president must obtain the support of the people. I put my faith in the people. But in the end, open society will not survive unless those who live in it believe in it.