will Russian be an significant international language for the future?

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

will Russian be an important language for international relations, or will Russia's power and population decline so much as to make it irrelevant? will it continue to be spoken in the former Soviet Republics, or will it be completely replaced by local languages?

[Stranger in a strange land]

It'll continue to be spoken in the former Soviet countries and small countries close to Russia (ie Mongolia) but it will decline in importance as a world language.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

Russian is the native language of around 150 million people, and it's spoken by nearly 300 million worldwide. I highly doubt that it will be replaced and made irrelevant any time soon.

Of course it's not as critical a language for international relations as it was during the Cold War, but that's been the case for 20 years now.

[ilikeverin]

will Russian be an important language for international relations, or will Russia's power and population decline so much as to make it irrelevant?

It already has been made irrelevant.

[dead0man]

haha, no.

[ag]

It is. In the former Soviet Union and a few other countries. Will it spread further? No, it will, probably, become less important. But it will remain an important international language for sure: arguably more important than, say, German, Italian or Hindi/Urdu.

[GMantis]

It is. In the former Soviet Union and a few other countries. Will it spread further? No, it will, probably, become less important. But it will remain an important international language for sure: arguably more important than, say, German, Italian or Hindi/Urdu.

While I mostly agree with you, I don't think there are any countries outside the former Soviet Union where Russian is a significant international language currently (though it's of course important as a minority language in some countries, of course).

[ag]

It is. In the former Soviet Union and a few other countries. Will it spread further? No, it will, probably, become less important. But it will remain an important international language for sure: arguably more important than, say, German, Italian or Hindi/Urdu.

While I mostly agree with you, I don't think there are any countries outside the former Soviet Union where Russian is a significant international language currently (though it's of course important as a minority language in some countries, of course).

Well, the older Eastern European politicians frequently still speak Russian, so, at least when dealing w/ the Russians, they still sometimes communicate in that language, as far as I understand. This is also true of some other formerly socialist states (think, say, Mongolia).  Hey, most Bulgarians (my age or older) that I've met in the US have been able to, at least, understand my Russian (even if they responded in English ) ).You also still have quite a substantial number of Soviet-educated folks in the "Third World" (in all sorts of positions). And, then, you have strange places like Israel )  I am almost willing to bet that, say, Azerbaijani-Israeli relations right now are, sometimes, conducted in Russian )) Of course, it is not anywhere close to English - but, arguably, it is not entirely insignificant.

Then, of course, you shouldn't make too much of it. When Yuschenko was still president of Ukraine, Georgia's Saakashvili was fond of publically addressing the Ukrainan people in Ukrainian (he studied in Khar'kiv in Soviet days). That does not make Ukrainian a language of international relations )

At the very least, Russian isn't going anywhere in the former Soviet Union. There is, normally, no other language a Kazakh and a Moldovan can reliably communicate in.

[Verily]

At the very least, Russian isn't going anywhere in the former Soviet Union. There is, normally, no other language a Kazakh and a Moldovan can reliably communicate in.

Increasingly, however, Kazakhs and Moldovans have little reason to be speaking to one another in the first place, unless it be in a larger international diplomatic context in which English remains the standard.

[ag]

At the very least, Russian isn't going anywhere in the former Soviet Union. There is, normally, no other language a Kazakh and a Moldovan can reliably communicate in.

Increasingly, however, Kazakhs and Moldovans have little reason to be speaking to one another in the first place, unless it be in a larger international diplomatic context in which English remains the standard.

Not quite true. There are a lot of various forums where they intersect. Old empires don't die that fast. I think it will take many more decades before Kazakhs have less to say to Moldovans than Moldovans have to say to Hungarians )

[Earth]

will Russian be an important language for international relations, or will Russia's power and population decline so much as to make it irrelevant?

It already has been made irrelevant.

Only if oil is irrelevant to Europe.

[GMantis]

It is. In the former Soviet Union and a few other countries. Will it spread further? No, it will, probably, become less important. But it will remain an important international language for sure: arguably more important than, say, German, Italian or Hindi/Urdu.

While I mostly agree with you, I don't think there are any countries outside the former Soviet Union where Russian is a significant international language currently (though it's of course important as a minority language in some countries, of course).

Well, the older Eastern European politicians frequently still speak Russian, so, at least when dealing w/ the Russians, they still sometimes communicate in that language, as far as I understand. 

Well, it can be argued whether using Russian language with Russia counts as significant (and yes, communication with other former Soviet union states is probably often in Russian, though I suspect this is on the wane). What I really meant with my remark is that the knowledge of Russian (as well as interest in Russian) has decreased to such an extent that Russian is no longer viable, with some exceptions, as an international language there. On the other hand with the exception of the Baltic states, that doesn't seem to be the case in the former Soviet Union

It is. In the former Soviet Union and a few other countries. Will it spread further? No, it will, probably, become less important. But it will remain an important international language for sure: arguably more important than, say, German, Italian or Hindi/Urdu.

While I mostly agree with you, I don't think there are any countries outside the former Soviet Union where Russian is a significant international language currently (though it's of course important as a minority language in some countries, of course).

Hey, most Bulgarians (my age or older) that I've met in the US have been able to, at least, understand my Russian (even if they responded in English ) ).

Considering the relative closeness between the two languages and the fact that Russian was studied very seriously in Bulgaria, it's surprising that they couldn't reply in Russian. Though perhaps they thought their accent was bad, which is very often the case - not unlike Russians trying to speak Bulgarian .