Интервью с Президентом Обамой.
INSKEEP: Are you just lucky that the price of oil went down and therefore their currency collapsed or…
OBAMA: Well…
INSKEEP: Is it something that you did?
OBAMA: If you’ll recall, their economy was already contracting and capital was fleeing even before oil collapsed. And part of our rationale in this process was that the only thing keeping that economy afloat was the price of oil.
And if, in fact, we were steady in applying sanction pressure, which we have been, that over time it would make the — the economy of Russia sufficiently vulnerable that if and when there were disruptions with respect to the price of oil — which inevitably, there are going to be sometime, if not this year then next year or the year after — that they’d have enormous difficulty managing it.
I — I say that, not to suggest that we’ve solved Ukraine, but I’m saying that to — to give an indication that when it comes to the international stage, these problems are big, they’re difficult, they’re messy. But wherever we have been involved over the last several years, I think the outcome has been better because of American leadership.
Ebola — there was a moment as recently as six weeks ago when people were absolutely convinced that this is a problem we couldn’t solve. Because of American leadership, not only have we not seen another Ebola case here in the United States — and when we do, we’ll be prepared for it — but internationally, resources, medics, testing, science has poured into poor countries. We’re practically rebuilding their public health infrastructure because of our leadership.
It doesn’t happen in two weeks; it doesn’t happen in — in four weeks. But if we’re steady about it and we’re focused and we’re clear that we possess capacities as well as values that require us to engage, that we’ll be successful.
INSKEEP: Just to wrap this up with this idea that you began with, of doing things that you want to do rather than…
OBAMA: Yeah.
INSKEEP: Have to do, has your limited response to ISIS in Iraq and Syria been driven in part by a sense that this is a very dangerous threat, but not the biggest problem the United States faces in the world, and you do not want to be distracted from far bigger things going on elsewhere?
OBAMA: I think we can’t underestimate the danger of ISIL. They are a terrorist network that, unlike Al Qaeda, has not limited itself to the periodic attack but have aspirations to control large swaths of territory, that possess resources and effectively an army that pose great dangers to our allies and can destabilize entire regions that are very dangerous for us.
So, I — I don’t want to downplay that threat. It is a real one; it’s the reason why I’ve authorized, as part of a broader 60 nation coalition, an effort to fight back and to push them back and ultimately destroy them.
But it’s not the only danger we have. America is probably as well positioned for the future as we’ve been in a very long time.
We’ve created more jobs since I’ve been president than Japan, Europe and every other advanced nation combined. Our energy resources, both conventional and clean energy resources, put most other of our competitors to shame.
Demographically, we’ve got a young population, in part because of immigration. We’ve got the best universities in the world; we’ve got the best workers in the world. Our manufacturing base has come roaring back, led by the auto industry, but not restricted by it. Our deficits I’ve cut by two-thirds.
And so, if you look out towards the future, America is in a great position and our military is more capable than any military in history. We don’t really have a serious peer, at least on the conventional level, although obviously Russia is a — is a significant nuclear power.
The question then becomes, alright, how do we play those cards well? Part of it is attending to immediate problems like ISIL; part of it is making sure that we are firm in upholding international norms as we have been in Ukraine; part of it is managing short-term crises that could turn into long-term disasters if we’re not attentive, like Ebola. But ultimately, the thing that is most dangerous for the United States is us not tending to the very sources of our strength.
So, it is true that when it comes to ISIL, us devoting another trillion dollars after having been involved in big occupations of countries that didn’t turn out all that well — I’m very hesitant to do that because we need to spend a trillion dollars rebuilding our schools, our roads, our basic science and research here in the United States; that is going to be a recipe for our long-term security and success. And what we’ve also learned is that if we do for others what they need to do for themselves — if we come in and send the Marines in to fight ISIL and the Iraqis have no skin in the game, then it’s not going to last.
When we look at an issue like Ukraine, we have to be firm with the Russians but we’ve also got to make sure that we’ve got our own fiscal house in order; we got to make sure that we are doing what we need to do to build our manufacturing base because ultimately, the big advantage we have with Russia is we’ve got a dynamic, vital economy, and they don’t. They rely on oil; we rely on oil and iPads and movies and you name it.
And so, making sure that we are building on our strengths, most of all, our people; making sure that prosperity is broadly shared; making sure that people feel confident about the future here at home — that is going to be the test as to whether we’re secure and prosperous over the long-term.
America’s never been in the business of colonizing other countries and grabbing their resources; we’ve never been in the business of bullying folks into doing things that we can’t do for ourselves. Where we have done that, by the way, it’s never worked out all that well. That’s not our best tradition.
Our best tradition is when we just lead by example and when we are strong and secure and we’re standing up for what we believe in. And we’re in a great position to do that right now.
And my last two years, my intention is going to be to make sure that — that I build on the great work that we’ve done over the last six years and I — I hope that I can bring the country together to do it.
Когда в России смогут сказать о своей экономике то же самое, что Обама говорит об экономике США, тогда можно говорить о полной независмости России. Ну, и, можно будет говорить о России, как об игроке в политической раскладке в мире.
Все остальное, — ерунда.
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