DAVOS: Billionaire investor and philanthropist George Soros on Thursday lamented rising nationalism across the world and said the “biggest setback came in India” .
Soros, speaking at the World Economic Forum, said, “Nationalism, far from being reversed, made further headway. The biggest and most frightening setback occurred in India where a democratically elected Narendra Modi is creating a Hindu nationalist state, imposing punitive measures on Kashmir, a semi-autonomous Muslim region, and threatening to deprive millions of Muslims of their citizenship.”
Soros pledged $1 billion for a new university network project to battle the erosion of civil society in a world increasingly ruled by “would-be and actual dictators” and beset by climate change. He said the coming years would determine the fate of leaders like US President Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping as well as the world.
Trump is a conman, narcissist:Soros
We live at a transformational moment in history. The survival of open societies is endangered and we face an even greater crisis: climate change,” George Soros said.
Soros, known for his outspoken liberal views, virtually criticised all economic powers of the world, including the US and China. He described Trump as a “conman and the ultimate narcissist who wants the world to revolve around him”. “When his fantasy of becoming president came true, his narcissism developed a pathological dimension. Indeed, he has transgressed the limits imposed on the presidency by the Constitution and has been impeached for it. At the same time, he has managed to gather a large number of followers who have bought into his alternative reality,” he said.
He also expressed particular alarm over Xi, who he said had broken with Communist Party tradition by concentrating power around himself, with the Chinese economy losing its previous flexibility. He also questioned the success of China’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative, saying it has required giving large loans, some of which will never be repaid.
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