>From an editorial in the New York Times:

Russia: Citizen Soros' generosity

In a season of grand philanthropic gestures, George Soros has now joined
Ted Turner in announcing a munificent international gift. Soros will
increase his Open Society Institute's activities in Russia by $300 million
to $500 million over the next three years. That will more than double his
current programs in Russia and easily exceed Washington's $95 million
annual donation to Russia's civilian sector.

The contribution adds to the $1.5 billion Soros has already given away
overseas, the bulk of it to build civil society and independent media in
formerly communist countries.

Some Americans may quarrel with Soros and Turner for spending so lavishly
on foreign causes when problems in America go untended. Turner pledged $1
billion to United Nations humanitarian programs. Soros does have an Open
Society Institute in the United States, which runs innovative programs. The
works that he and Turner support abroad may help prevent political
upheavals in Russia and other countries that could cost Americans dearly in
the years ahead.

Other examples of American political largess abroad are not so commendable.
Often they support ethnic extremism. IrishAmericans have formed the
economic base of the Irish Republican Army. A retired Florida doctor,
Irving Moskowitz, has bought properties in Arab neighborhoods in East
Jerusalem and turned them over to rightwing groups eager to secure a
Jewish presence there.

Soros' new donation will go to improving Russia's health care and
education, and retraining Russian soldiers and officers for civilian jobs.
The latter program could remove a major source of potentially destabilizing
unrest in Russia's military.

There is a caution worth raising. Soros is not only Russia's biggest aid
donor. He has also bought a nearly $1 billion stake in Svyazinvest, the
privatized state telecommunications company. Soros has said that people
might be confused by his dual role, He has not had to worry about possible
conflict of interest in most of the countries where he gives money, in part
because his support of civil society tends to infuriate autocratic
governments,. But in Russia, where he is both working with the government
and bidding on its companies, Soros must clearly separate his two roles.

It is always unsettling when a single private citizen wields so much
influence in a strategically important country. Washington is fortunate
that George Soros' foreign activities reflect American values.