NYTimes on Critical Languages

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Evgeny Pavlov wrote:

> Colleagues, the NYT article Prof. Rifkin has kindly recommended
> describes our current situation quite accurately: Russian is again in
> "critical" demand as the language of the enemy. The quesion is
> whether we really want to promote ourselves that way. I, for one,
> doubt that our advertising Russian in the context of US embassy
> bombings and nuclear briefcases is a wise long-term recruitment
> strategy.

A "wise long-term recruitment strategy" will require political and
economic changes that are beyond our control and that of our government.
The Russians must decide that they are willing and able to join the
world economic community, and offer Western investors believable
assurances that their property and profits are safe. The August 1998
repudiation of $15 billion in foreign debt may have been necessary in
some sense, but it also hamstrung them in terms of attracting willing
partners.

Once that happens, there will be more than enough Russian-language work
to go around in a variety of fields. Remember 1991?

--
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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