Politically inclined billionaire investor George Soros will make his first visit to the University today with a 5 p.m. lecture in Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center.
The speech will be based on his book, "The Bubble of America Supremacy: Correcting the Misuse of American Power." In it, as in his public appearances, he is highly critical of the foreign policy of President George W. Bush.
The book argues that the Bush administration has based its policies on military might rather than on the principles of international law. It compares this assertion of American power in the world to a financial "bubble"--the boom in a boom-and-bust cycle that promises to deliver long-term negative consequences.
Soros has been searing in his criticism at times. He was quoted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution as saying Bush "deliberately deceived the public" about his reasons for invading Iraq in March 2003 and had "used the war on terrorism as a pretext to pursue a dream of American supremacy."
Following the lecture and a question-and-answer session, Provost Peter Lange will moderate a panel featuring political science professors Peter Feaver and Robert Keohane and Director of the Sanford Institute for Public Policy Bruce Jentleson.
"George Soros long has been a leading figure in international affairs and the world of philanthropy, and we are pleased the Duke community will have this opportunity to engage with him," Jentleson said.
Soros, a native of Hungary, was recently ranked as the 28th-richest man in America by Forbes magazine, having made his fortune largely through international speculation. He is also one of the world's foremost philanthropists, having poured in millions to Eastern Europe and charitable causes.
He currently serves as chair of Soros Fund Management, LLC, and is founder and chair of the Open Society Institute. He founded Central European University in 1992.
Soros's visit is sponsored by the Sanford Institute of Public Policy and the Duke Center for International Development, with support from the Office of the Provost, the Center for International Studies' Program on Globalization, Equity and Democratic Governance and the Kenan Institute for Ethics.
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