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Author: Sam (---.dsl.irvnca.pacbell.net)
Date: 05-14-06 14:24
Lorentz, I have little doubt that the Russian government and general public is pleased to see the US immigration laws limit their women from leaving their country. Only a few days ago Putin addressed the Russian legislature and devoted most of his speech to the fact that population drainage is now an alarming factor in Russia’s future; as I had mentioned in one of my earlier posts, Russia is projected to experience a population loss of nearly 50 million in the next four decades; that is more than one million people per year. He attributed this loss to immigration, low birth rate, and increasing death rate due to diseases, lower life expectancy –especially among men who now average 59 nine years of age, about 20 years less than us Americans. Yet, despite their unhappiness about loss of population due to immigration, I do not think they have established an “understanding” with our government to limit visas to Russians: remember two facts that support this claim, although I cannot be absolutely sure of my conclusions based on these facts alone:
One, we have the same attitude toward other countries not in the Western European Union or in a few preferred singular nation: if the applicant is from the Philippines, a US ally, the US will apply the same limitations; I mentioned it took my best friend here a year and a half to bring over his Pilipino wife who was married to him the whole time!! I think old school politics and ethnic prejudices are more at the core of it than anything else; besides we apply the same restrictions to most FSU countries and ex-Soviet allies, including some who have no immigration concerns. I think we have always had an undisclosed line diving those we like to be our guests and those whom we don’t like, unless we like to make a political statement: to this day we will treat a boat-load of Cubans a little differently than a boat load of other South American people not under Castro, as if these two groups lead significantly different lives! As I see it, our immigration policy makes no sense because it is polluted by confused politics and misunderstood priorities.
Two, I do not think the Russian government or public, despite their distaste for the departure of so many of their women, like our immigration policy: they may not like their women to marry our men, but America is the country most of them like to visit most. Every Russian I met, who had the means to travel, told me how upset they were to know they would probably never be able to travel to the one foreign country that occupied their imagination and thoughts most in their recent history. The TV shows may try to make such marriages look undesirable; but the fact that nearly half of their programming is American productions only make Russians interested in visiting us more. As an example, I am sorry to inform you that “sex and the City” is pretty big in Russia!! Besides, any effort by their government to influence ours to limit visa privileges would be a waste of time because Russian women know there are men from more than a dozen countries in Europe who would invite them over much more easily. To this day, getting even a tourist visa to France or Italy for most single Russian girls is a matter of singing up for a tour to that country. I have gone on European vacations with Russian girls who only needed 30 days to set it up. Most Russian women either have no preference or actually prefer to end up in Europe anyway: in essence they are just a couple of hours away from home and they consider themselves European, even if some Europeans don’t think so.
So, my conclusion is that it is our policy more than anything else. I think it is only a matter of time before most Russian women actually state a lack of desire to meet American men. I encountered this a few times in agencies and in conversations: they simply ask themselves why go through the agony of waiting a year for an American visa. That plus the general unpopularity of our world politics nowadays, is taking its toll. Besides, I expect another cold war between our countries, given the current events, especially after Putin and Bush are out of the office. Pick up any major Russian newspaper- there are some in English on-line- and you see the seeds of another cold war in what they say. Read Asia times online, which is a middle of road Southeast Asian perspective, and you will see how geopolitics and oil & gas politics are increasingly the reasons why our government and theirs are going to be at odds with each other. It is all a sordid and convoluted mix of many attitudes: envy, curiosity, resentment, and legitimate concern over our world view, all blended into the larger political issues. In essence the future of transatlantic relations will have more impediments, which is why I dislike the name-calling or negative posts here and offer in balance a voice of encouragement.
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