On December 26, 2007, Xinhua News Agency published an article titled “An Investigation of Fake Think Tanks in the United States.” The article listed four U.S. think tanks, calling them “non-governmental organizations funded by the government,” employing “soft daggers” through “financing, supporting, planning subversive tactics, etc. against the targeted nations.” The following is part two of the translation of the entire article. [1]
Financial Tycoon Assisting Government—Open Society Institute

Unlike NED, which was set up by the U.S. government, the Open Society Institute (OSI) was founded by George Soros, an American financial speculator. OSI and the Soros Foundation are one and the same organization under two different names, both headquartered in New York. In addition, Soros also established the Open Society Initiative for West Africa and the Open Society Initiative for South Africa.

Although not directly under the U.S. government, the objectives of OSI and the Soros Foundation to promote democracy and subvert foreign governments “coincide” with those of the U.S. government. It often acts in coordination with government agencies.

At present, the Soros Foundation has branches in Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Africa, all under different names. The activities of the Soros Foundation have extended to over 60 countries and regions. Its modus operandi is that OSI initiates a project that is then implemented by branches of the Soros Foundation. The annual expenditures of the two organizations amount to $500 million and $400 million, respectively.

OSI and the Soros Foundation declare that they are “committed to building and maintaining an open society infrastructure and public facilities.” But critics point out that the “open society” is nothing but a brand name. Provision of aid and alleviation of poverty are but window dressings. The true intention of Soros is to export U.S. ideology and values to those countries deemed not sufficiently democratic and to make a “democratic wave;” thus, change of governments would pave the way for his own financial speculation. According to his theory, a “closed” society lacks in financial investment opportunities, and only by opening it up can he make a fortune.

Classical Cases

Soros was born in Eastern Europe. After rising to affluence and power in the United States, he has in mind at all times to transform his hometown. His foundation started to set foot in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) soon after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.
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In 1990, the Foundation established an International Renaissance Foundation in Ukraine and aggressively pursued “democratic infiltration.” As of 2004, it made a total investment of $82 million. In addition to establishing the headquarters in Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, the International Renaissance Foundation has opened 24 branches. It entered into Moldova in 1992 to promote Western values. In 1993, it chose Kyrgyzstan, considered in the West to be “Central Asia’s island of democracy,” and provided key support to the country’s independent media, targeting public health, culture, education, and other fields as the points of breakthroughs and rapid expansion. In 1994, it ventured into Georgia and maintains an official presence in Caucasus. In 1995, the Soros Foundation’s reach found its way into Kazakhstan in Central Asia, to be used as a bridgehead into Central Asia. It broke into Uzbekistan in 1996. In view of the strategic position of the Caucasus, the Soros Foundation included Azerbaijan and Armenia in its global network in 1997.

In Russia, there are about 10 so-called research institutions as well as Soros Foundation branches. The activities of OSI and the Soros Foundations in the CIS countries aim at promoting U.S. values of democracy and freedom and to help establish a pro-U.S. government.

At the end of 2004, an “orange revolution” broke out in Ukraine. Members of Congress of the United States disclosed that the Ukraine OSI under the Soros Foundation played an important role in the launch of Ukraine’s revolution. Yushchenko, who later became the prime minister, was a board member of the Ukraine OSI. In 2005, a “yellow revolution” broke out in Kyrgyzstan. Actually, the Kyrgyzstan OSI under the Soros Foundation had long been working on “democracy.”

Endnotes:
[1] Xinhua News Agency, December 26, 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2007-12/26/content_7315955.htm

On December 26, 2007, Xinhua News Agency published an article titled “An Investigation of Fake Think Tanks in the United States.” The article listed four U.S. think tanks, calling them “non-governmental organizations funded by the government,” employing “soft daggers” through “financing, supporting, planning subversive tactics, etc. against the targeted nations.” The following is part one of the translation of the entire article. [1]
To subvert other countries, the United States has always used two techniques concurrently. In Iraq, the United States openly employs the military. In comparison, in recent years the United States has used more of a “soft approach,” including financing, supporting, planning subversive tactics, and other means against the targeted nation.

The “soft daggers” are often waged by non-governmental organizations as think tanks, but funded by the government. From Eastern Europe and Latin America, to recently in Myanmar, those “color revolutions” and the political turmoil all have the faint shadow of “the second CIA” behind them.

Then, what are the modus operandi of these organizations and their commonly used approaches? Globe Magazine’s exclusive report will unveil the truth behind these “fake think tanks.”

“The Second CIA”

The United States plans and instigates “Color Revolutions” through non-governmental organizations disguised as think tanks and foundations. It is primarily the U.S. government that funds these fake think tanks. They are in fact instruments of the government to implement the government’s mission of subversion.

There are numerous non-governmental organizations in the United States, with complex relationships among themselves. Among them four stand out: the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation), Freedom House and the Albert Einstein Institute.

The Truth about the Second CIA – the National Foundation for Democracy

Almost all of the National Foundation for Democracy (NED)’s funding comes from a governmental appropriation by the U.S. Congress. The NED is in fact a government department, albeit a non-governmental organization, and acts in concert with the State Department, the CIA and the Agency for International Development. It is known as “the Second CIA.”

The NED’s network includes four affiliates: the Republican’s International Republican Institute, the Democrats’ National Democratic Institute, The Center for International Private Enterprise of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Solidarity Center of the AFL-CIO. Other recipients of NED grants include Democracy Magazine, the World Democracy Movement, the International Forum on Democracy, the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellowship Program and the Center for International Media Assistance.
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In 1982, the then President Reagan proposed an initiative to established a special agency to promote democracy throughout the world. The following year, the United States Congress passed the “State Department Authorization Act,” allocating $31.3 million to set up maintenance of the National Endowment for Democracy, with its headquarters in Washington, D.C. The foundation’s mission is primarily to engage in activities that the CIA cannot accomplish by law, such as supporting political parties in other countries.

Every year, the foundation receives government funding through a budget allocation of the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S. AID). In Fiscal Year 2004, its income amounted to $81.10 million, 79.25 of which was from government funding. Funding from other foundations was miniscule. Therefore the source of funding shows that it is completely a government entity.

The NED is a bipartisan organization. It allocates half of the Congress appropriated funds to the four affiliates and half to organizational applicants outside the United States.

The foundation is under the leadership of Carl Gershman, formerly a senior adviser to the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and Executive Director of Social Democrats, USA. The current Board of Directors includes dignitaries such as Lee Hamilton, the “911” incident Independent Inquiry Committee Co-Chairman, former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, and Michael Fukuyama, the well known conservative theorist.

The NED’s network spreads throughout the world and its modus operandi is similar to that of the CIA. It supports the world’s largest right-wing business interests and representatives of political organizations. One of its founders, Allen Weinstein, said bluntly, “A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA.”

Classic Examples

The classic example of the NED’s role in the subversion of foreign governments is Venezuela. Since 1999, when the left-wing Chavez government came to power in Venezuela, the United States has done everything possible to subvert the regime. The NED has played an important role.

The NED has carried out its activities through the U. S. AID Office in the U. S. Embassy in Venezuela, and three “private” offices controlled by the U. S. Embassy. The three offices contacted and provided funding to dozens of Venezuelan institutions, political parties and organizations.
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The NED’s activities in Venezuela were carried out primarily through providing funds, facilities and the invitations to visit the United States, and other means to support the political opposition to overthrow the Chavez regime and its coalition of political parties. It provides funding, training, recommendations and leadership to the opposition political parties, non-governmental organizations, media, research institutions, universities, trade unions and business owners, to engage in a project of “quiet interference” with the Chavez regime. The NED’s project has clear short, medium and long-term objectives. The project originated in the Clinton administration and has expanded since Bush assumed office. Some organizations and individuals funded by the NED were directly involved in the 2002 coup attempt, the 2003 oil worker strike and the 2004 referendum to remove Chavez, but none of the three conspiracies succeeded.

According to American media reports, the NED provided $1.13 million to a Venezuela opposition group, to Venezuela’s Center for the Dissemination of Economic Information (CEDICE) and to the Democratic Coordination, in support of their effort to “build consensus on a national agenda.” The funding was used to hold forums and for operational expenses. After the Democratic Coordination obtained funding, it formulated the “consensus on the national agenda,” i.e. the agenda for an interim government. The agenda was to overthrow the Chavez government and establish an interim government. Another Venezuela opposition group obtained $50,000 in funding for its project to collect signatures in an attempted referendum in 2004 to remove Chavez; it ultimately failed.

In the 2006 election, the NED did everything possible to block Chavez from being re-elected, again to no avail.

Endnotes:
[1] Xinhua News Agency, December 26, 2007
http://news.xinhuanet.com/globe/2007-12/26/content_7315955.htm