Increased Enrollments article

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Inna Caron wrote:

> Russia is no longer perceived as a major threat to national security and/or
> the principal competitor for the world dominance. Russian has never been the
> primary language of choice for the business majors, but it used to be
> popular among those preparing themselves for military and government
> careers. These days, despite some news releases here and there, assuring the
> general public that Putin is up to no good, Russia just doesn't have that
> formidable status of The Evil Empire. It affected not only the prospective
> majors, but even the seasoned professionals. Not that there is no more need
> in the international security experts specializing in that region; it's just
> that there is a no need for as many of them as it used to be. I once
> attended a talk by a CIA officer, who put a great effort into emphasizing
> that it would be foolish to assume that Russia is no longer the most
> dangerous enemy. Incidentally, the officer was a specialist on the former
> Soviet Union, and gave the sad impression of someone fearing for their job
> security.
> 
> A few years ago I gave a talk on Russian hackers and cybercrime in the U.S.
> One of the attendees said afterward, "We need more of this type of
> publications, because it will assure the funding of the Russian programs,
> which we can then use to continue teaching Dostoevsky." 

This much is true, but it's only part of the picture. When the Soviet 
Union collapsed back in 1991, there was an initial rush of Western 
companies to enter the newly opened market. Unfortunately, for political 
and legal reasons (including the 1998 default), most Western companies 
no longer regard Russia as a huge opportunity. There is a steady low 
level of trade, but not nearly what we might expect if the political and 
legal environments were as conducive as they are in Brazil, China, and 
India.

Human rights aside, this is the great tragedy of Putinovshchina -- that 
fear of nationalization, fear of piracy, and quite simply fear of the 
inability to turn a profit and repatriate it -- are keeping Russia more 
isolated commercially than it need be. When and if the legal and 
political issues are resolved, the market for Russian speakers will pick 
up -- perhaps to the level of major European languages like French or 
Italian. Russia has nearly twice the population of Germany and three 
times the population of France, its people are highly educated and 
literate, and it has vastly more natural resources than the rest of 
Europe combined, so it does have something to sell.

And let's keep in mind that we need far more language majors to deal 
with a major trading partner than with an Evil Empire. :-)

-- 
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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