Increased Enrollments article

[Josh Wilson]

Another two cents, 

I don't think that a drop in Russia's perceived threat is to blame. The US
does see Russia as threat - Alina Israeli's comments show this, as does
nearly all journalism in the States, as does the current politics in Central
Asia. Take Georgia, for instance. Georgia is right now our one way of
"safely" getting oil out of Central Asia - Russia wants control there
because with Georgia in its sphere, it can route all the oil and gas heading
for the West through Russian pipelines, thus boosting Russian economic and
political power. While the news will have you believe that Iran and
"terrorists" are our biggest threats - that title more properly rests with
China and Russia - who are increasingly gaining the ability to challenge us
militarily and, more importantly, economically. Thus, we are supporting
Georgia's current government while Russia is supporting its opposition. 

Also, Russia is still seen by businesses as a source of major profits. The
consumer boom, petrodollars, etc. means that, according to a study by Ernst
and Young that says that 90% of business invested here plan to expand in
2008. Many more companies (mostly smaller, like Campbell's Soup, Starbucks,
Berlitz - but also a few major companies like Disney) - are now planning or
recently made market entries or major investments. And foreign investment is
still in the billions every year. Intel recently opened a fairly expensive
R&D facility in Nizhny Novgorod. Pepsi is planning a brand new factory in
southern Russia. Coca-Cola is following through with plans to invest 1.5
billion dollars (yes, billion) in Russia over the next few years. And that's
just what I recall off the top of my head. 

I would offer that the slump in interest is simply one of style. Russia was
cool in the 80s and early 90s. Now, it's out of fashion. China's the new
Russia, so to say. Maybe in several years, it will be Russia's turn again -
or maybe students will be studying Portuguese to head down to Brazil. Hard
to say. 

A major PR campaign (or major world event) would likely help - something to
drive home that Russia is a major destination for investment - and is very
important to international diplomacy. But that would take the media
reporting on Russia with something other than hopelessness - and likely
politicians doing the same. I don't think this is likely in the near future.
Maybe we could get Paris Hilton and Ksenia Sobchuk to do some public service
announcements?  ;)  (kidding, of course). 

But this doesn't mean that increased grass-roots efforts that we can do
won't help. For folks hoping to build the attractiveness of their programs
on campus, SRAS offers http://www.sras.org/educators (see "Classroom
Materials and Advocacy). We'd love to hear what you think - and if you have
success (or failure) with our ideas. 

Best, 



Josh Wilson
Asst. Director
The School of Russian and Asian Studies
Editor-in-Chief
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
www.sras.org
jwilson at sras.org


-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU] On Behalf Of Alina Israeli
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 1:27 AM
To: SEELANGS at BAMA.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Increased Enrollments article

On Nov 14, 2007, at 3:31 PM, Inna Caron wrote:

> Russia is no longer perceived as a major threat to national  
> security and/or
> the principle competitor for the world dominance.


1. Russian is one of top four urgently needed (that is speakers of,  
pardon my fractured syntax) on the State Dept. and US Army lists.

2. That's what makes so many Russians upset and they are trying their  
darnest to make sure that Americans (and others) perceive them that way.



Alina Israeli
LFS, American University
4400 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington DC. 20016
(202) 885-2387 	
fax (202) 885-1076
aisrael at american.edu




-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------