Soros and the NED: Foreign Regime Change in the Name of “Democracy”

A dive into the Journal of Democracy reveals how the National Endowment for Democracy and George Soros’s Open Society have partnered to reshape foreign policy for decades on our taxpayer dollars.

Tracking Soros in the Journal of Democracy

One of the most under-scrutinized influencers in global regime change and ideological engineering is George Soros—yet his fingerprints are all over the Journal of Democracy, the house publication of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

While “democracy promotion” sounds noble on its face, in practice it often masks elite-driven soft power operations designed to steer foreign governments toward Western-aligned economic and political structures, often against the grain of national sovereignty and domestic culture.

Below are documented references to Soros in the Journal of Democracy, as mined through AI.

📌 1. Tiananmen and Beyond: The Resurgence of Civil Society in China

Author: Thomas B. Gold
Published: January 1990, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 1, No. 1

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
In 1986, Soros launched The China Fund with the blessing of CCP reformer Zhao Ziyang. Its aim: to bankroll “autonomous intellectual activities”… a soft, technocratic way of saying it was designed to challenge CCP ideological dominance through education and student movements, echoing the same destabilization models Soros used in Hungary and Poland.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “George Soros...established The China Fund in 1986 (with Zhao Ziyang's blessing) in order to support a range of autonomous intellectual activities.”
  → Soros was funding a parallel intellectual elite inside China, outside Party control.

• “The Fund was similar to those Soros set up in Hungary, Poland, and the Soviet Union.”
  → This was a geopolitical playbook.

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📌 2. News and Notes, Vol. 4, No. 2

Published: April 1993, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 4, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros chaired a high-level NED session on democratization in Central and Eastern Europe, placing him in the center of strategic decision-making alongside other elite actors from the West. The goal was coordination across foundations to shape regime transitions via foundation networks and NGO activity.

Notable Quotes:

• “Each session was chaired by a different foundation... George Soros for Central and Eastern Europe...”
  → He was strategizing at the top tables.

• “The seminar's concluding session focused on...cooperation among the participating foundations.”
  → Coordinated soft power, not organic democracy.

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📌 3. Politics After Communism: Ukraine—A View From Within

Author: Serhiy Holovaty
Published: July 1993, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 4, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros publicly framed Ukraine’s emerging post-Soviet leadership as a “nationalist dictatorship” (“nadi”), a label that delegitimized popular nationalist movements. This rhetorical move pressured Ukraine into aligning with Western institutions, under the guise of “democracy assistance.”

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “According to George Soros, Ukraine has witnessed a phenomenon...he calls a 'nationalist dictatorship' (or 'nadi').”
  → Soros sets the ideological narrative—labeling non-globalist governments as threats.

• “These roots need to be nurtured by strong support from the West...”
  → Western money must flow to control the political outcome.

📌 4. News and Notes, Vol. 4, No. 4

Published: October 1993, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 4, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros funded international scholar travel to a democracy-themed sociology convention, positioning academic exchange as a vector for ideological seeding. Additionally, Soros-backed Hungarian magazine Beszélő published Journal of Democracy articles to spread pro-Western doctrine in Hungary, a textbook example of narrative control through elite academic and media collaboration.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “Travel support for overseas scholars...was provided by...the Soros Foundation.”
  → Soros subsidized access to Western ideological training for scholars from target regions.

• “Essays on Democracy Published in Hungarian...”
  → Local media was used to circulate Western political theory to Hungarian audiences.

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📌 5. News and Notes, Vol. 5, No. 3

Published: July 1994, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 5, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Open Society Institute funded a research facility in Prague designed to supply Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty—a Cold War-era U.S.-funded broadcast network—with curated material. This effectively put Soros at the helm of the post-Soviet information war, controlling the historical and current affairs narrative in the region.

Notable Quotes:

• “Open Society Institute to fund New Research Facility...serving RFE/RL...including the former Soviet Union.”
  → Soros was building information infrastructure to steer political memory and reporting.

• “Members of the Board of Directors...include George Soros, Karen Greenberg, Aryeh Neier...”
  → The same ideological architects are behind the content and the funding.

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📌 6. Democratization and Business Interests

Author: John D. Sullivan
Published: October 1994, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 5, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros funded the Central European University’s corporate governance program—a policy Trojan horse for aligning post-communist economies with Western business law and EU regulations. Rather than organic legal reform, this was ideological engineering via education, cultivating compliant future elites under the guise of technical training.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “The program is...developed by Central European University in Prague with funding...from the Soros Foundation and the NED.”
  → A pipeline from Soros's wallet to the minds of future business and policy leaders, along with US-backed NGOs.

• “Central Europe must harmonize...laws, standards...to qualify for EU membership...”
  → Ideological conformity becomes a condition for access to global institutions.

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📌 7. News and Notes, Vol. 11, No. 4

Published: October 2000, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 11, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Stefan Batory Foundation cosponsored a Warsaw conference on democracy that brought together global “civil society” leaders. But scratch the surface and this is a NATO-aligned soft power event, using NGOs as fronts to shape international policy under the banner of freedom and democracy.

Notable Quotes:

• “Cosponsored by Freedom House and Poland’s Stefan Batory Foundation...”
  → A USA NGO and a Soros-funded group set the agenda together.

• “Conference on ‘International Relations and Democracy’...”
  → A public forum disguised as diplomacy, backed by private influence.

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📌 8. Romania's Politics of Dejection

Author: Grigore Pop-Eleches
Published: July 2001, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 12, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Soros Foundation commissioned public opinion surveys in Romania… ostensibly to study attitudes toward democracy, but in practice, this is narrative engineering by data. By sponsoring the measurement of public attitudes, Soros positioned his network to shape political narratives and influence future campaigns.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “Figures are based on...the Public Opinion Barometer survey commissioned by the Soros Foundation.”
  → The data pipeline is funded and controlled by Soros.

• “See the Soros public-opinion barometer...”
  → Public mood becomes a tool for steering future political messaging.

📌 10. Documents on Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 3

Published: July 2002, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 13, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Soros-funded Open Society Institute sponsored the Democracy Coalition Project, which released a global “Call to Action” pressuring activists and governments to build so-called “open democratic societies.” This was an international campaign to coordinate NGO-led pressure on sovereign states, leveraging financial and diplomatic tools to enforce ideological conformity.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “Sponsored by the Open Society Institute...a 'Call to Action'...signed by 19 prominent democracy advocates.”
  → A Soros-backed ideological manifesto disguised as civil society activism.

• “We urge...coalitions to press governments to deepen democratic reform at home and abroad.”
  → Foreign-influenced groups pressuring sovereign governments to comply with Western norms.

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📌 11. Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Limits of Electoral Engineering

Authors: Carrie Manning, Miljenko Antić
Published: July 2003, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 14, No. 3

Key Takeaway (no direct Soros link):
While Soros is not mentioned, the article lays bare the use of international agencies like the OSCE and OHR to sideline nationalist parties in Bosnia. Under the excuse of protecting democracy, unelected foreign bodies rewrote electoral rules to weaken local voices—a process deeply aligned with the Soros-style “open society” logic.

Notable Quotes:

• “International authorities...believed that a sustainable multiethnic polity could arise only once 'the nationalist parties' were defeated.”
  → Open society means removing popular nationalist parties.

• “They enforced these conditions by removing candidates and officeholders.”
  → External actors dictated who was allowed to run for office.

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📌 12. Europe Moves Eastward: Beyond the New Borders

Author: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Published: January 2004, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 15, No. 1

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Open Society Foundation sponsored Public Opinion Barometers in Romania and Moldova. These were used to monitor sentiment and steer post-Soviet countries toward EU integration—substituting nationalist aspirations with Brussels-centric alignment through data and elite persuasion.

Notable Quotes (translated):

• “Sponsored by the Open Society Foundation in Romania and Moldova...”
  → Polling used to shape—not just measure—public will.

• “EU accession...overriding nationalist appeals and luring elites...”
  → Integration marketed as progress, while nationalism is delegitimized.

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📌 13. The Anti-American Century?

Author: Ivan Krastev
Published: April 2004, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 15, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Soros-funded Open Society Foundation in Sofia commissioned a survey linking anti-Americanism with resistance to markets and democracy—framing dissent as irrational or dangerous. This weaponized polling to pathologize opposition to U.S.-backed neoliberal transitions.

Notable Quotes:

• “‘Anti-Americanism in the Balkans’...funded by the Open Society Foundation.”
  → Controlling the narrative by shaping what’s “acceptable” opinion.

• “Democracy came...wrapped in the American flag...promoted by American foundations.”
  → Acknowledgement of democracy promotion as a soft power export operation.

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📌 14. Georgia’s Rose Revolution

Author: Charles H. Fairbanks, Jr.
Published: April 2004, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 15, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Open Society Institute bankrolled travel for Georgian activists to Serbia to learn protest tactics, and funded Kmara, a clone of Serbia’s Otpor (complete with the same clenched fist symbol). This was a textbook case of regime change via Western-coordinated street movements, NGO front groups, and U.S.-funded election operations.

Notable Quotes (translated into plain English):

• “OSI gave money for Saakashvili and others to go to Serbia...”
  → Exporting color revolution tactics using Soros funding.

• “The U.S. Agency for International Development...computerized Georgia’s messy voter rolls.”
  → Election systems were shaped by Western contractors on our taxpayer dollars.

• “Fair Elections...funded to conduct parallel vote tabulation.”
  → A backdoor method to preempt official results and question legitimacy.

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📌 15. Crafting a Constitution for Afghanistan

Author: Barnett R. Rubin
Published: July 2004, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 15, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Open Society Institute was directly involved in shaping Afghanistan’s constitution—from funding the author to inserting international advisers and negotiating with Islamist leaders. This was Western-guided nation-building disguised as constitution drafting, where red lines were drawn not by Afghans, but by international donors.

Notable Quotes:

• “Supported by the Open Society Institute...”
  → Financial backing gave Soros-linked actors influence over legal frameworks.

• “International actors...did not want any explicit reference to shari’a...”
  → Foreigners decided the ideological boundaries of Afghanistan’s constitution.

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📌 16. The End of Postcommunism in Romania

Authors: Peter Gross & Vladimir Tismaneanu
Published: April 2005, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 16, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Romanian Soros Foundation funded the Coalition for a Clean Parliament (CCP), which publicly blacklisted electoral candidates before the 2004 election—leading to dozens of withdrawals and contributing to the fall of the ruling PSD party. This weaponization of civil society tools helped install a pro-EU, Western-friendly regime.

Notable Quotes:

• “Funding was provided by the Balkan Trust, the Romanian Soros Foundation, and Freedom House.”
  → Soros used NGO coalitions to purge political opponents.

• “Under pressure from civil society, the PSD withdrew about 30 candidates...”
  → Civil society became a battering ram against elected parties.

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📌 17. Promoting Transparency in Angola

Author: John McMillan
Published: July 2005, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 16, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros helped launch a 30-NGO coalition pushing transparency in Angola’s oil sector. While framed as anti-corruption, this initiative also challenged state control over natural resources, placing financial power under external scrutiny aligned with Western interests.

Notable Quotes:

• “George Soros helped launch a coalition of thirty NGOs...”
  → NGOs served as a tool for pressuring foreign resource policy.

• “Money...is stolen instead.”
  → The narrative centers the West as moral authority over local governance.

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📌 18. New Threats to Freedom: Democracy’s “Doubles”

Author: Ivan Krastev
Published: April 2006, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 17, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Gleb Pavlovsky, Russia’s infamous political technologist, previously worked with Soros’s Open Society Institute, and edited a Russian version of Journal of Democracy. The article outlines how technocrats use “managed democracy” to simulate pluralism while preserving elite control—ironically, a tactic Soros’s own programs have influenced.

Notable Quotes:

• “Pavlovsky worked with George Soros and his Open Society Institute...”
  → Even the Kremlin’s gameplayers passed through Soros-linked networks.

• “The political technologist...obtains an election result...the Kremlin has planned...”
  → This reveals a cynical use of democracy for elite orchestration.

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📌 19. News and Notes, Vol. 17, No. 4

Published: October 2006, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 17, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa was tied directly to Zimbabwe’s Election Support Network, which was headed by a Soros-backed activist. Once again, elections were influenced not by voters alone, but by foreign-funded civil society infrastructure.

Notable Quote:

• “Reginald Matchaba-Hove, chairman of the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa.”
  → One person, funded by Soros, sitting at the center of election manipulation infrastructure.

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📌 20. Favorable Conditions and Electoral Revolutions

Authors: Valerie J. Bunce & Sharon L. Wolchik
Published: October 2006, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 17, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The article credits international donors like OSI (Open Society Institute) with funding electoral revolutions across the post-communist world. The authors admit much of this funding targeted opposition parties and media, to facilitate “democratic” regime change aligned with Western standards.

Notable Quotes:

• “There are no available data for the support provided by OSI...”
  → Opaque funding streams allowed maximum political leverage.

• “International donors...supported opposition groups, the media...”
  → This is democracy promotion through financial patronage of one side.

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📌 21. News and Notes, Vol. 19, No. 4

Published: October 2008, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 19, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
A conference on “Democracy’s International Challenges” was held in Brussels, co-sponsored by Soros’s Open Society Institute. The event discussed sovereignty and democracy, framing resistance to Western influence as a threat, and reinforcing soft power ideology through elite discourse.

Notable Quotes:

• “Hosted...in collaboration with...the Open Society Institute.”
  → Soros helped fund the ideological summits that shaped Western strategy.

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📌 22. Moldova’s “Twitter Revolution”

Authors: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi & Igor Munteanu
Published: July 2009, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 20, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The Soros-funded Institute for Public Policy in Moldova conducted exit polls that disputed official election results, feeding allegations of fraud and triggering protests. This mirrors earlier Soros strategies: use polling and media to question legitimacy, stoke unrest, and tip power toward opposition.

Notable Quotes:

• “Exit poll taken by the Soros Foundation–funded Institute...”
  → Polls weaponized to challenge election results.

• “The opposition attributed the discrepancy to fraud.”
  → Poll data triggered political crisis.

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📌 23. The DRC’s Crumbling Legitimacy

Authors: Mvemba Phezo Dizolele & Pascal Kalume Kambale
Published: July 2012, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 23, No. 3

Soros Involvement:
While co-author Pascal Kambale was with OSISA (Soros network), the article does not provide evidence of direct Soros interference in Congo’s 2011 elections. However, the authorship in a NED journal does show direct Soros influence in US-led foreign policy.

Note:
This article is a rare neutral outlier in the Journal of Democracy archive. It lacks the hallmarks of Soros-coordinated soft power evident in others.

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📌 24. Controlling Corruption Through Collective Action

Author: Alina Mungiu-Pippidi
Published: January 2013, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 24, No. 1

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Open Society Institute is listed among the few entities actively funding civil society and media in anti-corruption programs. While presented as neutral, this is a classic soft power model, using Western standards to reshape governance abroad, often without local legitimacy or efficacy.

Notable Quotes:

• “George Soros’s Open Society Institute... have started to fund civil society groups...”
  → “Civil society” here means Western-funded ideological allies.

• “External donors seek to replicate... normative constraints...”
  → Foreign donors are trying to clone their own political systems elsewhere.

• “Little evidence that such programs... are effective...”
  → Even advocates admit these efforts often fail on the ground.

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📌 25. The Secret Supports of Mongolian Democracy

Authors: M. Steven Fish & Michael Seeberg
Published: January 2017, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 28, No. 1

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Soros’s Open Society Institute funded Globe International (GI), an NGO central to passing Mongolia’s Freedom of Information law. Soros-backed groups held workshops, wrote legislation, and pressured Parliament—a clear case of foreign-funded legal engineering.

Notable Quotes:

• “It has received funding from the Open Society Institute...”
  → OSI was underwriting Mongolia’s policy apparatus.

• “GI and allied CSOs... pressured Parliament...”
  → Legislation came from external actors, not internal demand.

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📌 26. Explaining Eastern Europe: Slovakia’s Conflicting Camps

Authors: Grigorij Mesežnikov & Ol’ga Gyárfášová
Published: July 2018, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 29, No. 3

Soros Mention (Dismissed by Authors):
Slovak PM Robert Fico accused Soros of interference, but this is brushed off as “conspiracy.” The article doesn’t document actual interference—only public resistance to Soros-style influence.

Notable Quote:

• “Fico resorted to conspiracy narratives... involving George Soros.”
  → Dismissed, but tells us how embedded Soros’s brand has become in political conflict.

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📌 27. Explaining Eastern Europe: The Crisis of Liberalism

Author: Jacques Rupnik
Published: July 2018, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 29, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Hungary’s government targeted Soros’s Open Society Foundations and Central European University (CEU), accusing them of political interference. Laws were passed forcing NGOs to disclose foreign donors, clearly aimed at exposing Soros's influence.

Notable Quotes:

• “Law...aimed mainly at the Open Society Foundations of George Soros...”
  → Soros became the legal focus of pushback against foreign interference.

• “By going after civil society and academic freedom...”
  → Soros's model = academia + NGOs = anti-government elite resistance.

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📌 28. Explaining Eastern Europe: Orbán’s Laboratory of Illiberalism

Authors: Péter Krekó & Zsolt Enyedi
Published: July 2018, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 29, No. 3

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
The article confirms a €100 million Hungarian media campaign against Soros, who is portrayed as orchestrating a mass migration conspiracy. The “Stop Soros” legislative package effectively pushed the OSI office out of Budapest.

Notable Quotes:

• “Hidden network led by George Soros...to bring millions of immigrants...”
  → Soros was cast as the face of globalist demographic engineering.

• “'Stop Soros' package...”
  → Hungary made Soros-style NGO activity a national security issue.

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📌 29. Documents on Democracy, Vol. 31, No. 4

Published: October 2020, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 31, No. 4

Key Evidence of Soros’s Role:
Osman Kavala, founder of Turkey’s Open Society Foundation, was arrested for allegedly trying to overthrow the government. While the charges were politicized, this shows how Soros’s model—civil society + minority rights + protest—is seen as a threat to national authority.

Notable Quotes:

• “Founder of the Open Society Foundation in Turkey... taken into custody...”
  → The Soros brand became synonymous with regime destabilization.

• “Advocate for...Kurdish and Armenian minorities...”
  → Activism often wrapped in ethnic grievance politics.

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📌 30. A Blueprint for Europe

Author: Mark Leonard
Published: April 2022, Journal of Democracy, Vol. 33, No. 2

Key Evidence of Soros’s Influence (Indirect):
The article aligns with Soros’s European Council on Foreign Relations agenda, framing populist parties as Kremlin proxies while elevating liberal, NATO-aligned elites as democracy’s saviors.

Notable Quotes:

• “Mainstream leaders strengthened...populist parties lost legitimacy.”
  → NATO-aligned centrists win, nationalist dissenters are delegitimized.

• “Youngs’s book...an important counterpoint...”
  → Soft ideological reinforcement of the Soros-aligned worldview.