- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

French Media Reveals Reason Behind Putin's Success at Int'l Arena

© Sputnik / Алексей Никольский / Go to the mediabankRussian President Vladimir Putin at a business forum. File photo.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at a business forum. File photo. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
Russia seems to emerge victorious from most international geopolitical conflicts, and the reason behind the tremendous success is President Vladimir Putin’s brilliant education, Le Figaro says.

The French daily newspaper, Le Figaro, has suggested that the success of the Russian strategy abroad is largely linked to the profound knowledge of geography that President Vladimir Putin has shown.

READ MORE: 'He's An Adult': Putin Reveals What He Told Trump During Brief Talk at G20

The publication cited an illustrative example that took place in October 2017, when Putin interrupted the speech of Alexander Tkachov, the agriculture minister, who was addressing pork exports to Indonesia. The Russian president explained that he was wrong because Indonesia is a Muslim-majority country (about 87 percent of the population), which means Russia cannot sell them pork.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping shakes hands during a joint press conference at the Great Hall of the People, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2017, in Beijing. (File) - Sputnik International
Trump Says Talks with Putin, Xi Can Halt 'Uncontrollable Arms Race'
Unlike his Western counterparts, President Putin has an excellent understanding of cultural differences due to the high quality of Soviet education, as well as his personal interest in geography, which allows him to conduct a more elaborate policy, Le Figaro noted.

The media outlet also stressed that, for instance, former French and US presidents, Nicolas Sarkozy and George Bush, couldn’t distinguish between Shia and Sunni Muslims at the beginning of their tenures, which led to catastrophe in the Middle East.

In a similar way, Le Figaro wrote, the current French president, Emmanuel Macron, made a geographical blunder, by calling Guiana, a French overseas territory in South America, an island.

READ MORE: Trump Accused Baltic Leaders of Starting Wars in Yugoslavia – Reports

Such low-level knowledge of geography leads them to a total misunderstanding of the major international geostrategic issues, consecutively monopolised by economic lobbies, which defend their own short term interests and not those of the nation in the long term, the newspaper says.

“For example, in Mali, Islamists were considered a threat to French interests, but in Syria they were a strong ally against Bashar Assad, who is perceived (for what objective reason?) as an enemy to be defeated at any cost”, Le Figaro wrote.

As a result, the West does not have a clear long-term strategy, defining who its enemies and friends are, which countries should be avoided from being destabilised to maintain peace in the world, or what the ratio is between real and unwanted actors in different states.

READ MORE: Facebook Allegedly 'X-Rates' Macron's Photo With Two Shirtless Men

It has led to a number of geopolitical mistakes for which the world has to pay the price. For instance, the emergence of Daesh*, which is both a consequence of the US destruction of Iraq in 2003 and of armed support for rebels in Syria.

*Daesh, also known as ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State, is a terrorist organisation outlawed in Russia and many other countries.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала