Billionaire philanthropists George Soros and Charles Koch have teamed up to launch the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft which ‘promotes ideas that move US foreign policy away from endless war and toward vigorous diplomacy in the pursuit of international peace’.

The Boston Globe broke the story this week and described it as ‘one of the most remarkable partnerships in modern American political history.’ Soros and Koch, described to be at the opposite ends of the political spectrum have each contributed half a million dollars to fund the think tank.

Left-leaning George Soros has given away more than $32 billion of his personal fortune to fund the Open Society Foundations’ work around the world is widely hated by America’s far right. Koch is a driving force behind the modern Republican Party, has pushed for increased deregulation and smaller government.

According to the website, ‘The Quincy Institute is an action-oriented think tank that will lay the foundation for a new foreign policy centered on diplomatic engagement and military restraint. The current moment presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to bring together like-minded progressives and conservatives and set U.S. foreign policy on a sensible and humane footing. Our country’s current circumstances demand it.’

‘This is big,’ said Trita Parsi, former president of the National Iranian American Council and a co-founder of the new think tank which will be launched in September. ‘It shows how important ending endless war is if they’re willing to put aside their differences and get together on this project. We are going to challenge the basis of American foreign policy in a way that has not been done in at least the last quarter-century.’

For more see: http://www.bostonglobe.com