Questions have emerged about the close relationship between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the network of organizations backed by billionaire philanthropist George Soros, particularly his Open Society Foundations (OSF). According to the Heritage Foundation, a US conservative think tank, the collaboration between USAID and Soros’ OSF was cemented in 2009, when OSF was reportedly made the “main implementer” of USAID’s foreign aid programs. However, evidence shows that this partnership began well before that.
In 1993, a USAID document reveals that the agency first collaborated with the Soros Foundations’ Management Training Program to train 30 professionals from Bulgaria, Estonia, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia, signaling the beginning of a long-running alliance. This early collaboration laid the groundwork for a more extensive network of Soros-affiliated organizations working alongside USAID in Eastern Europe.
The late 1990s and early 2000s marked a period of intense political upheaval in Eastern Europe, as a series of “color revolutions” swept across the region. Soros’ NGOs were often at the center of these protests, playing a significant role in shaping the political landscape during this time. In 2003-2004, USAID and Soros’ International Renaissance Foundation joined forces to support Ukraine’s ‘Orange Revolution,’ a pivotal moment in the country’s push for democratic reforms. Before this, the US government had already allocated substantial resources toward promoting democracy in Ukraine, with $54.7 million spent in 2003 and $34.11 million in 2004 through a range of government agencies, including USAID.
Fast-forward to 2018, and further revelations about USAID’s involvement with Soros-linked groups raised concerns. The legal watchdog Judicial Watch uncovered documents that showed USAID sponsored Soros’ globalist agenda in Guatemala, a partnership that reportedly saw OSF spend approximately $100 million between 2015 and 2018 to support various unrest-related causes in Latin America. Similarly, in 2016, USAID is reported to have allocated $9 million to support radical left-wing activists in Albania, a project overseen by Soros’ East West Management Institute.
The scale of the financial backing for Soros-related initiatives is staggering. In 2024, President Joe Biden requested a nearly $30 billion budget for USAID in the fiscal year 2025, further underscoring the agency’s significant role in promoting foreign policy and democratic values worldwide. With such large sums at play, concerns about the transparency and oversight of these collaborations continue to fuel debate on the US government’s relationship with global activist movements.
