@Kevn,
My argument against Russian isn't about the sheer number of Russian speakers in the world, it is about how easy it is to maintain and it's worldwide applicability. Just yesterday I interviewed an MI Russian linguist, and despite being his control language, he talked about how hard it is to maintain. Yes, there are many countries in the works that once was forced to speak Russian, Afghanistan included, but I would argue that speaking Russian will not endear you with many of those populations.
Regarding applicability, you are correct, the numbers speaking Russian are significant, but they are still somewhat regionalized and focused in a part of the world where we certainly have interests, but I suspect limited involvement. I expect a greater involvement in Africa (assuming we maintain our current foreign policies). French would be more useful. I personally have found Spanish to be an extremely useful language and very easy to maintain due to the prevalence if Spanish here in the States.
So my advice is learn a language with great utility worldwide, enough regular access to maintain. My experience has been that once you learn a new language, it is easier to learn another when a mure relevant and timely language presents itself. Don't try to predict an odd language, go with the high probability langauges. Good luck with whatever you pick.
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