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S O r OS FO unD atiO n S nEt WOrk nEWS F a LL | 2009 Eastern Europe: Where Do Open Societies Stand 20 Years Later? OPEN SOCIETY NEWS 2 OPEn SOCiEtY nEWS eDIToR’s noTe FALL 2009 as I read the stories in this issue of Open Society News, I was often struck with a sense of SOrOS FOunDatiOnS nEtWOrk exhilaration. annette laborey’s adventures behind the Iron Curtain and sergei Kovalev’s efforts to advance human rights in communist Russia serve as triumphant vindications of years of patient and often dangerous work by people committed to open society. The speed with which communism collapsed in many countries was matched by the speed OPEn SOCiEtY inStitutE with which new institutions took its place. Within days or weeks, policymakers and c h A i r m A n citizens formed governments, scheduled elections, and developed laws. George soros George Soros himself was swept up by the change, establishing 18 new foundations in the region p r e s i d e n t between 1989 and 1992. Heather Grabbe depicts the longer-term effect of how former aryeh neier communist states aspiring for eU membership prompted the european Union to pay e x e c u t i v e v i c e p r e s i d e n t more attention to human rights and social policy issues in candidate countries. Stewart J. Paperin There is no doubt that the collapse of communism and the fall of the berlin Wall d i r e c t o r o F p u b L i c affa i r s marked the unleashing of a vast amount of human creativity and potential as people Laura Silber took advantage of new freedoms and new political and economic opportunities. Vaclav Havel notes that he is constantly amazed by how much ingenuity had slumbered within Open Society News people. e d i t o r but the changes also brought unseen levels of greed and poverty, new forms of William kramer corruption, and, as slavenka Drakulic highlights, confusion and alienation as people d e s i g n e r struggled to redefine their roles and responsibilities within a quickly changing social Jeanne Criscola | Criscola Design order. Istvan Rev points out one of the ironies of democratic change in Central and p h o t o g r A p h y eastern europe: it has allowed for the participation of groups that want to destroy aP Wide World Photos: page 3 (John Gaps iii) reuters: page 5 (Petar kujundzic); page 16 (reuters/ullstein-Succo); and page 19 (reuters/ democracy, such as fascists and extreme nationalists. on a broader level, nils Muiznieks alexander natruskin) writes about how people’s commitment to building open society is often overwhelmed Magnum Photos: page 6 (Chris Steele-Perkins) Photo courtesy of annette Laborey: page 9 (adelheid von Bothmer) by individual concerns about success or failure in the region’s new, market-driven Panos Pictures: page 11 (Piotr Malecki) societies. Getty images: page 14 (Spencer Platt); page 21 (Gerard Fouet/aFP) after two decades of transition, Central and eastern europe and parts of the former F r o n t c o v e r p h o t o g r A p h y soviet Union have been largely transformed for the better. but as George soros and aP Wide World Photos: People celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall and the crumbling of aryeh neier both note, the change has been uneven and, in some areas and on some communism in Central and Eastern Europe, Berlin, november 1989 (Lionel Cironneau) issues, there has been stagnation and setback. The collapse of communism has been a b A c k c o v e r Corbis (thierry tronnel) boon for open society but has also fostered a host of new and significant challenges that we must continue to address. Will Kramer the Open Society institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. to achieve its mission, OSi seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSi implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. at the same time, OSi builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSi places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities. Table of ConTenTs investor and philanthropist George Soros in 1993 created OSi as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and 3 In Revolutionary Times the Impossible becomes Possible the former Soviet union. those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSi has expanded the activities of the Soros foundations network to encompass the united States and more than 70 countries 5 Freedom Rises and spreads after the fall in Europe, asia, africa, and Latin america. Each Soros foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities. 6 Creating the “open society Man” (and Woman!) 9 Days of Dissent and Dreams of Democracy Open Society News, published by the Open Society institute in new York, reports on programs and issues critical to advancing open society throughout the network and the world. 11 The Return to europe—by Way of eU Membership For additional information, see the Soros foundations network website at www.soros.org or contact the Open Society institute, 400 West 59th Street, new York, nY 10019, uSa; 14 Seeking Paradise, finding europe t e L (212) 548-0600; fa x (212) 548-4605; or email [email protected] 16 Was there a 1989? iSSn # 1706-9606 ©2009 Open Society institute 19 Human Rights in Russia: The struggle Continues 21 Less Repression, More Rights—and More still to Do www.soros.org In Revolutionary Times the Impossible Becomes Possible a man hammers away at the Berlin Wall, november 1989. open society Institute Chairman George soros writes about how his foundation network, overcoming obstacles and setbacks, helped countries in eastern europe change from closed to open societies. GeoRGe soRos I SET UP MY FIRST FOUNDATION IN HUNGARY IN 1984. The idea I was guided by the concept of “open society,” which I adopted behind it was simple. The state dogma, promoted by the ruling from the philosopher Karl Popper. I saw open society as a more communists, was false, and by providing an alternative we could expose sophisticated form of social organization than the totalitarian closed its falsehood. Accordingly, we supported every cultural initiative that societies of the Soviet bloc. was not an expression of the established dogma. The latter were trying to implement central plans; in an open s o r o s foundations n e t w o r k n e w s 3 OPEN SOCIETY NEWS 4 society every individual or organization was supposed to implement But the foundations were the first out of the gate everywhere. I their own plan. To make the transition from a closed to an open society remembered the lesson my father who had lived through the Russian would require outside help and that was what my foundations sought Revolution in Siberia taught me: In revolutionary times, things that are to provide. normally impossible become possible. In Hungary, the authorities insisted on having a controlling In Ukraine, we set up the International Renaissance Foundation presence on the foundation’s board. We eventually agreed to appoint before Ukraine became independent. In Tajikistan, we persevered with two chief executives, one nominated by them and one by me. the foundation during the five-year civil war although we had no way The project succeeded beyond my expectations. With very small of controlling its activities. Our impact was the greatest during that amounts of money people could engage in a wide variety of civic turbulent period. initiatives ranging from self-governing student colleges to zither When I set up the foundations in Eastern Europe, I hoped the open clubs. societies of the West would follow in my footsteps, but in that regard One of our first projects was to offer photocopying machines to I was disappointed. Unwilling to burden their own budgets, they gave cultural and scientific institutions in exchange for local currency. the job to the International Monetary Fund, which was ill suited to We used the money to give out local grants and support all kinds of the task. unofficial initiatives, but the photocopying machines also did a lot of The IMF was accustomed to signing letters of intent with good. governments, making the continuation of their programs conditional Up until then, the few existing copy machines were literally held on the governments fulfilling their obligations. The countries ofE astern under lock and key—as more and more became available, the party Europe fared better, but in the former Soviet states, one after another, apparatus lost control of the machines and the dissemination of the programs largely failed. information. East Germany was the exception: West Germany was willing to We did not have to exercise direct control. Civil society watched over make the sacrifices that were necessary to integrate it. Eventually, the When I set up the foundations in Eastern Europe, I hoped “the open societies of the West would follow in my footsteps, but in that regard I was disappointed.” the foundation. For instance, we were warned that an association of the countries of Eastern Europe, including the Baltic states, also made the blind, to whom we gave a grant for talking books, was stealing some grade when the European Union gave them accession.

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