George Soros said that Russian actions in Ukraine may start the “third world war” and that Western civilization, in order to “survive”, must defeat Moscow as soon as possible. Writes Lucas Leiroz
In Davos, discussions on the Ukrainian conflict are taking over the speeches of some of the biggest names of the Western world. On the one hand, realists such as Kissinger propose pragmatic means to achieve peace and seek stability in international relations. On the other hand, representatives of globalist elites seem obsessed with the “need to defeat Russia”. This is the case of investor and philanthropist George Soros, founder of the Open Society Foundation.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 24, Soros said that Russian actions in Ukraine may start the “third world war” and that Western civilization, in order to “survive”, must defeat Moscow as soon as possible. Considering his influence at a global level, such words sound like a real threat to world peace, as they can be relevant in the decision-making process by Western political leaders.
These were some of his words about the current conflict: “Russia invaded Ukraine. This has shaken Europe to its core (…) The European Union was established to prevent such a thing from happening. Even when the fighting stops, as it eventually must, the situation will never revert to the status quo ante. Indeed, the Russian invasion may turn out to be the beginning of World War III, and our civilization may not survive it. (…) We must mobilize all our resources to bring the war to an early end. The best and perhaps only way to preserve our civilization is to defeat [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. That’s the bottom line”.
Soros’ words seem specifically aimed at Kissinger, who a day earlier had defended the need for the West to work to regain the Ukrainian “status quo ante”. Soros uses the same words to say that this is impossible and that now only confrontation can prevent the Western civilization from dying. There is a clear opposition of perspectives in this debate, with Kissinger in the scope of realistic analysis and Soros visibly committed at the ideological level to the “need to defeat” the enemies of his project of “global open society”.
For the investor, Russia is not the only enemy. All political regimes that oppose some agenda of globalism would need to be defeated. In his thesis, Soros believes that the world was moving towards a global model of “open society” after the Soviet collapse, heading towards the universalization of the Western model of democracy. But that would have started to change after the events of 2001 and the rise of terrorism, which would have given a boost to totalitarianism as an international phenomenon. For him, Russia and China are currently the greatest totalitarian regimes on the planet and, therefore, the great enemies of open societies – and that “must be defeated”.
“After the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, the tide began to turn against open societies. Repressive regimes are now ascendant, and open societies are under siege. Today, China and Russia represent the greatest threats to open societies”, he said.
Not by chance, he also spoke in Davos about the need to confront China, which, according to him, is currently promoting an “unsustainable” policy to combat COVID-19, which violates the principles of an open society and threatens global supply, contributing to a “great depression” that will affect the West soon. Soros did not speak in clear terms but hinted that the Chinese president has lost internal support and influence, which could be used by the West in order to neutralize the Chinese “threat”. Considering Soros’ previous actions in financing regime change operations – from the process of collapse of communism in Europe to contemporary color revolutions -, it is possible to interpret his words as a signal that he will use his power to try some actions of this type in China.
“What about China? Xi has many enemies. Nobody dares to attack him directly because he controls all the instruments of surveillance and repression. But it is well known that within the Communist Party, dissension has become so sharp that it has found expression in articles that ordinary people can read. Contrary to expectations, Xi may not get his coveted third term because of the mistakes he has made. But even if he does, the Politburo may not give him a free hand to select the members of the next Politburo. That would greatly reduce his power and influence and make it less likely that he will become ruler for life”.
It is really impossible to analyze Soros’ words and not be concerned about the future of world peace. In practice, he called on Western society to militarily confront Russia with full force and to induce internal pro-regime-change dissensions in Xi’s China. Soros speaks as if, with such attitudes, he was supposed to prevent World War III and the death of Western civilization, but any realist analyst knows what his ideas really mean. Confronting Russia and China will mean exactly the beginning of a world conflict, whose possible nuclear escalation would result in the death of the entire planet, not only Western civilization.
In practice, contrary to Kissinger’s advice, Soros appears to have tried to give a “greenlight” for Western states to confront their two biggest geopolitical enemies. It remains to be seen, between the two Davos’ speakers, who will have the biggest influence over Western governments.
Lucas Leiroz, researcher in Social Sciences at the Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro; geopolitical consultant.
