January 25, 2010

A Case for Pragmatic Foreign Policy and the Pursuit of National Interests

There are quite a few countries in the world whose foreign policy is guided by obsessions, which are based on their historical memories. The Greeks are obsessed by the Turks, so are the Armenians. The Russians were obsessed by the Germans; now they are too much obsessed by America. The English and French reciprocal obsession today plays out mostly on the football or rugby pitch. They seem to have grown up. Our young country is very much obsessed with Russia. Is this obsession justified? Isn’t it time for us too to behave more like responsible adults? Aren’t our perceptions of Russia informed more by our historical memories than by current realities? Is the foreign policy guided by such perceptions in our national interest?

There are quite a few countries in the world whose foreign policy is guided by obsessions, which are based on their historical memories. The Greeks are obsessed by the Turks, so are the Armenians. The Russians were obsessed by the Germans; now they are too much obsessed by America. The English and French reciprocal obsession today plays out mostly on the football or rugby pitch. They seem to have grown up. Our young country is very much obsessed with Russia. Is this obsession justified? Isn’t it time for us too to behave more like responsible adults? Aren’t our perceptions of Russia informed more by our historical memories than by current realities? Is the foreign policy guided by such perceptions in our national interest?


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