Society ‘may not survive’ Putin’s war, says billionaire George Soros

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine may have marked the start of “a third world war”, and Russian President Vladimir Putin must be defeated “as soon as possible” if the world is to preserve civilization.

That was the harsh message that Hungarian billionaire and philanthropist George Soros delivered on Tuesday (24) to attendees of the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“Even when the fighting stops, as it eventually must, the situation will never go back to the way it was before,” warned Soros, 91.

“Other issues that concern all of humanity — fighting pandemics and climate change, avoiding nuclear war, maintaining global institutions — have had to take a back seat to this struggle. That’s why I say civilization may not survive.”

The former investment fund manager, who is now chairman of Soros Fund Management LLC and founder of the Open Society Foundations, is famous for using his wealth to help promote open societies and create inclusive democracies with responsible governments.

But after the events of 9/11, he noted, the tide began to turn against open societies. As a result, “repressive regimes are now on the rise and open societies are under siege,” he said on Tuesday.

“Today, China and Russia pose the greatest threat to the open society.”

Open societies have governments that are diametrically opposed to governments in closed societies, Soros noted.

“In an open society, the rule of the state is to protect the freedom of the individual. In a closed society, the role of the individual is to serve the rulers of the state.”

Speaking about Putin and China’s leader Xi Jinping, Soros said: “They rule by intimidation and, as a consequence, they make incomprehensible mistakes.”

He pointed to China and Russia as the biggest threats to open societies aided by the development of digital technologies and especially artificial intelligence.

“In theory, AI should be politically neutral — it can be used for good or ill. But in practice, the effect has been asymmetrical. It is particularly good at creating instruments of control that help repressive regimes and jeopardize the open society,” Soros said.

The billionaire also criticized China’s “Covid-zero” lockdown policy, saying it had “disastrous consequences, pushing the Chinese economy into a free fall since March”, with “negative results” for the global economy.

On a more uplifting but still somber note, he praised Ukraine for fighting for the values ​​of the Western world.

“I think Ukraine today is doing a tremendous service to Europe, the Western world, open society and our survival, because they are fighting our fight,” Soros said.

“They have a very good chance of winning. We must give them all the support they ask for.”