Presidents Obama and Medvedev enjoying burgers at Ray's Hell Burger in Virginia
Following the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that hosted world's leading CEOs and once again brought together Medvedev and Sarkozy, and the casual lunch in Virginia where Medvedev and Obama ate burgers and split the fries, TIME wrote a refreshing article about Russia. Coincidentally, a week ago, I hosted in Moscow a friend, an American business owner. His conclusion was the following: given a) the demographics of Russia, b) Russia's wealth with natural resources, and c) Russia's central location to the world's fastest growing economies, Russia has no choice, but to grow. The West has no choice, but to participate in that growth.
Steve Jobs gave Dmitry Medvedev the new iPhone 4G. Luckily for Medvedev, his device came unlocked and he has already used it in Russia without any "help" from AT&T.
The children of Russia's baby-boomers grew up and are buying cars, refrigerators, and groceries. They also travel, and learn from their Western counterparts to love stuff. They spend money and learn and earn to spend even more. Russia is gifted with the natural resources. The climate change and advances in technology guarantee that Russia is not going to run out of oil, gas, gold, and timber any time soon. China, India, and Central Asia need Russia. Whether Europe and America like it or not, they need Russia too--in dealing with the Muslim world and expanding personal economies. Furthermore, Americans who tend to be idealistic and sum up things to all-or-nothing (let's say, perceived human rights vs. possible economic gains), in large missed the boat of Russian opportunities: French Ashan took the place of America's Wal-Mart, German Metro Cash and Carry eliminated opportunities for Costco, and Starbucks is shy in stealing customers from Russia's Coffee House and Shokoladnitsa.
"Western jousting is at work in the French and American appeals for Moscow to become a closer, fuller partner in global affairs" wrote TIME. "Twenty years after the end of the Cold War, the U.S.-Russian relationship has to be about more than just security and arms control," Obama told Medvedev and an attending press corps." It has to be about our shared prosperity and what we can build together."
We cannot agree more. Maybe these are the promised Hope and Change in attitude of the young world leaders towards each other, or maybe it is just a natural course of history. Regardless: American promise to assist Russia's membership in WTO, U.N. sanctions against Iran, fight for singing Western corporate contracts with Russian firms--all are great developments that should not be ignored but should be strongly encouraged by those seeking a prosperous, peaceful future.
Hopefully, the Change has come...
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