George Soros has done more for open societies than any other private citizen in the world. In Underwriting Democracy he describes his experiences helping to bring about democratic change in Eastern Europe--experiences that are especially relevant now that our country has begun to intervene (though in an entirely different way than Soros) to create functioning democracies. Throughout the 1980s George Soros worked to identify and fund the growing political movements that caused the downfall of Eastern Europe's Communist governments. He established foundations, first in his native Hungary, and then in eight other countries, and used them to finance everything from the installation of previously forbidden copying machines in public libraries to the creation of experimental schools, clubs, and workshops for the support of dissidents. This unprecedented, and brilliant, financial and logistical support helped to bring down the communist regimes in peaceful revolutions across the continent. These are thrilling stories about facing down-and getting past-the Communist party powers in order to change these nations from the inside out.
I have known a number of people who have funded foundations in formerly communist countries and the materials here ring true with what others have told me. There was usually an attempt to subvert the money for other purposes, a bureaucracy had to be avoided and there were many difficulties in putting funds to work in useful ways. Anyone thinking about encouraging governmental reform through nonprofit organizations can learn useful lessons from reading the first part of the book.
Throughout the book, Mr. Soros makes informed guesses about what will follow in each of the former communist countries. I was fascinated to see how well he understood the social and economic forces at the time . . . and how frequently he called the future quite accurately. Fortunately, his worst pessimism about what could happen in the former Soviet Union did not come to pass.
His attempts to help direct reform in the Soviet Union as an advisor come across as very optimistic, determined and naive. But sometimes Don Quixote can produce results where no one else can. He can at least feel good that he tried to help.
The least satisfactory part of the book is his explanation of the theory of reflexivity, which he describes in detail in part three. I think I followed the argument. It could have been stated much more simply and better explained with more government-related examples. The financial market examples are very clear.
At the end, I found myself wondering what nations could be doing today to encourage democracy in other areas where it has not done well. A number of helpful solutions are contained in a new book, Soft Power, which I encourage you to consider.
