Unfortunately the man was right. Years ago, George Soros warned of a mafia-like Russia that could seek an alliance with China. What might have been dismissed as pessimistic back then has now become reality. And so it’s not particularly reassuring that the star investor is once again choosing drastic words at this year’s World Economic Forum: “The invasion of Ukraine could be the start of a third world war,” he said in Davos.
The war in Ukraine must end quickly, also so that the world can turn its attention to another existential problem: “Climate change will soon be unstoppable. That could be the end of our civilization. I find this prospect particularly frightening,” said the billionaire.
Born in Hungary, Soros, now 91, became famous in the USA as a risk-taking hedge fund manager, he developed investment strategies and repeatedly made daring financial bets. He also invested a large part of his billions in foundations worldwide, especially in the “Open Society Foundations”, whose aim is to strengthen open, free societies.
Soros builds on this in Davos: Putin’s Russia and Xi Jingping’s China are the greatest threat to open societies. Their ideal is the opposite of a state that protects the freedoms of every individual: their goal is for the citizens to serve those in power. “I thought for a long time how this could happen. The answer is that the rapid digital development also played its part, especially artificial intelligence.”
China has used the corona pandemic to collect masses of personal data using the latest technology and to monitor citizens even more closely. To this end, the country is literally building up tech companies and expanding their influence. Soros considers the alliance between China and Russia to be particularly dangerous. Two countries that are currently making big mistakes: Russia made strategic mistakes during the war, and China is failing in its zero-Covid strategy in the long term. On the other hand, he finds great praise for his homeland, the United States, which is providing Ukraine with billions in aid.
Scholz “always does the right thing in the end”
He can see something positive about the situation, after all, Europe is now moving very much closer together. He has clear sympathy for the Italians’ proposal to integrate the EU states even more closely, and also for the French, who advocate geographical expansion. Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz – Soros put it politely – “always does the right thing in the end”: he gave up Nord Stream-2, invested an additional 100 billion euros in the military and delivered weapons to Ukraine. Scholz’ predecessor Angela Merkel, on the other hand, does not get off well. You blame Soros for the gas deals with Russia.
Soros doesn’t think an oil embargo like the EU is considering against Russia makes sense because oil can be transported easily. So President Putin can quickly find new buyers: “China is happy to take it.” Gas, on the other hand, usually has to be transported in pipelines, and in this case Russia is dependent on the EU. Putin cannot store gas permanently, and the storage facilities are estimated to be full in July. “If he stops supplying Europe, he has to stop gas production.” In the end, Soros still has something akin to optimism: “Europe is much stronger than it thinks.”