Politics & Power Quote by George Soros

Soros isn’t pleading for altruism here; he’s trying to rename self-interest so it sounds like duty. The line hinges on a slippery but deliberate move: “dominant power” becomes not a privilege to be questioned, but a fact that imposes a “special responsibility.” That phrase is the rhetorical lubricant of liberal internationalism: it turns power into a moral assignment, and it preempts the obvious counterargument that dominance itself can be the problem.

The structure matters. He starts with “we” and “must,” language of inevitability and consensus, then offers a two-step mandate: protect “national interests” (a nod to realpolitik and domestic skepticism) and then, crucially, “take the leadership” on “the common interests of humanity.” “Leadership” is doing a lot of quiet work. It suggests coordination rather than coercion, stewardship rather than empire. It’s also a subtle claim about legitimacy: the dominant power doesn’t just have capabilities; it has the right - even the obligation - to set the agenda.

Contextually, this is Soros the financier-philanthropist speaking from the post-Cold War faith that American primacy could be harnessed for open societies, human rights, and global institutions - the era when “humanitarian intervention” and globalization were treated as moral projects, not merely strategic ones. The subtext, though, is anxious: if power doesn’t clothe itself in universal language, it invites backlash at home and resistance abroad. Soros is arguing that the best way to preserve dominance is to spend it on something that looks bigger than dominance.