[speaker001:] well the Soviet Union uh now really called the Commonwealth of Independent States um is a mess um uh I think one of the biggest things we have to worry about is the uh control of nuclear arms especially Ukraine and Russia
[speaker002:] yeah I my main concern right now is first of all at this point with the current government and situation I don't see them as any threat to us at the moment however with the current state of the central government being as um tenuous as it is it wouldn't take much to uh cause a kind of fascist revival within uh Russia or any of the republics and then we do have a real clear foreign policy and a a problem and a threat because of the number of nuclear weapons that are there we seem to have lost the ability to control what's going on in the country
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] and any country which has as many nuclear weapons as they do is certainly is a threat but perhaps not at this second
[speaker001:] yeah you know I suppose you you say to yourself what will no rational uh person would would would launch uh nuclear weapons um but I guess that that's wouldn't necessarily hold uh for some radical government or temporary take over even
[speaker002:] well I work in international radio um and uh one of the groups that we're working with has been Radio Eurovan which is in Armenia and I you know in a sense you'd think being a you know an American or a westerner it would make sense that we there is no real great threat that these people aren't nuts but you listen to the what the Armenians have to say about their neighbors the Azerbaijanis and they launch in a second if they had an access to those weapons
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] there is a great deal of religious hatred in that part of the world and this is stuff that goes back to the days of Christ I mean
[speaker001:] yeah yeah
[speaker002:] this is not a two hundred year or or a fifty year uh problem this goes back centuries and the amount of hatred I mean there's accusations of using chemical weapons now both on both sides and
[speaker001:] yes yeah
[speaker002:] it into a republican strife amongst these various um former parts of the Soviet Union I think you could have a regional use of nuclear weapons but I don't think that they see us as a threat anymore
[speaker001:] right I guess I agree with that um
[speaker002:] um the other concern is as time goes on they could become an economic threat um but I think what will happen is they will go through an Asian
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] type of uh introduction into the business world where beginning there'll be cheap labor and uh you you know then we will have an I'd say thirty years if things stay the way things are now they could become another Korea or Malaysia or Thailand type of source for cheap labor where American products could be built and uh I think that's where they are headed
[speaker001:] right well I think that that there's a uh qualitative difference that uh Russia and and much of the Soviet Union still has a lot of natural resources that some of these other countries you mentioned just never had
[speaker002:] um-hum
[speaker001:] so that uh you know the commonwealth states could could easily you know leapfrog the uh the you know stepping stone path uh laid out by the by the Southeast Asian countries
[speaker002:] well they do have a huge oil reserve the problem is that they don't have the ability to exploit it at this point
[speaker001:] right
[speaker002:] they could become a major source for oil for us as well as timber and um other products agriculture could become very important for them using modern farming techniques in the Ukraine and I suspect they will form some sort of economic union when all is said and done I don't think I don't think
[speaker001:] yeah yeah yeah we're we're still going through a a uh you know a settling period you know they're not sure who they want their leaders to be they're not sure how they want the you know uh relationships between the states to to shape so I agree with you know they're they need another couple years to to let them uh settle down and uh start cooperating
[speaker002:] well I certainly hope that we will I I wish we would incorporate some sort of marshall plan over there because I think one of the problems that this country has in dealing with them is we aren't doing enough right now
[speaker001:] um-hum
[speaker002:] and the chances for things getting out of control and another fascist type of regime rising are quite good um anyone at this point who can give them food security and make them you know feel some pride again could become a major threat especially some of these republics which are striving to become independent from central Moscow and that kind of administration um and if we don't get our tushes in there and spend more effort and money and funds trying to get things back on the ground there I think we're in