Russia Can Help Obama With Muslims: Izvestia, Russia

Could Russia turn out to be a source of great advice about how to deal with Muslims? Whether or not one agrees with Izvestia’s Malor Stuorua, there are some good arguments to assume Moscow could, if properly motivated – help President Obama ‘reach out’ to the Muslim world with the experience the Kremlin has gleaned over the years.

Hinting at, among other things, the ongoing catastrophe in Chechnya, Stuorua writes in part:

“The solution to this problem is the business of the entire global community, and to no small degree, Russia. (Note that in the United States, out of a population of 305 million, there are 7 million Muslims; whereas of the 142 million Russians, there are about 20 million Muslims). Russia has tremendous experience dealing with Islam – both good and bad – and that must be exploited to the fullest. It is to be hoped that at the upcoming Moscow summit between presidents Medvedev and Obama in July, this problem will be the subject of very deep discussion.”

“Yes, the ‘east is east, the west is west and never the twain shall meet’ – if neither side makes the first move toward the other. The initiative here should belong to the West – and not because it’s smarter, but because its fault in this historic drama of conflict and confrontation is far greater.”

By Malor Stuorua

Translated By Yekaterina Blinova

June 8, 2009

Russia – Izvestia – Original Article (Russian)

“East is east, and West is west, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote the great bard of the British Empire, Rudyard Kipling. Last week, U.S. President Barack Obama decided that they shall “meet,” and left Washington for Cairo, which is considered an unofficial capitol of the Arab world. There he delivered a speech conceived on the banks of the Potomac as a peace overture to conquer of the hearts of the billion Muslims who populate our planet.

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