For decades, the Open Society Foundations have worked to advance justice and human rights in Africa, the Middle East and trouble spots around the world. But the OSF’s latest major investment is aimed at a crisis closer to home.
On Tuesday, the organisation, founded by the billionaire philanthropist George Soros and headquartered in New York, announced a $300m spend aimed at boosting economic security and defending civil liberties in the US.
The drastic commitment comes 16 months into Donald Trump’s second term as president, with millions of Americans suffering an affordability crisis and activists warning of an extraordinary attack on the rule of law.
“We certainly believe that civil society is essential and must stay on the playing field,” said Laleh Ispahani, managing director for the US at the OSF. “We’ve had experience in other countries, unfortunately, where civil society has been targeted by autocratic administrations. It does matter that we still are funding in most parts of the world and are very much in communication with one another as things are happening in the US.”hropist George Soros and headquartered in New York, announced a $300m spend aimed at boosting economic security and defending civil liberties in the US.
Soros has given more than $32bn of his personal fortune to causes around the world. He is also a longtime Democratic donor and favourite bogeyman for the right. The attacks frequently rely on antisemitic tropes, framing Soros – a Jewish survivor of the Nazi occupation in Hungary – as a “globalist” puppet master.