Letter From Soros Lays Out New Plans for Open Society Organizations

Following are excerpts from a letter the financier George Soros sent last

month to grant recipients and others who have worked closely with the Open Society Institute:

We have always prided ourselves on moving with the times and, if possible, ahead of the times. During our short history, we have undergone several far-reaching transformations. But most of these changes have occurred in response to opportunities that presented themselves and without a strategic plan.

We are again in the midst of a radical transformation, but this time we are following a strategic plan. . . .

Our previous goal was to help with the transition of the former Soviet empire from closed to open societies. There was a strategic vision behind the lack of planning: It was a revolutionary moment and we would have missed an historic opportunity if we had insisted on planning before acting. It will be recalled that for several years we spent money without a budget. Then we had to introduce some order into the chaos, and that is how the Open Society Network (OSN), consisting of a matrix of national foundations and network programs, came into existence.

It was a valid vision and we can be proud of what we have accomplished. Our mission is far from complete — the collapse of closed societies does not necessarily lead to the emergence of open societies — and we must continue our engagement. But the revolutionary moment has passed, and the challenge of our times has shifted from the problems of transition to the problems of globalization. We must shift our own focus accordingly. Our new goal is to foster a global open society. . . .

To serve our new mission, we need a significantly different organization. It has to be global in scope and it has to be able to make an impact on how governments and international institutions conduct themselves. In the past, what we have accomplished we have done on our own; I was singularly unsuccessful in influencing Western policy — and I tried repeatedly. Now the situation is almost completely reversed. We can achieve relatively little by acting on our own, because the problems of globalization are so large that we can hardly make a dent in them, however hard we try. . . .