Chink of light as World Bank improves forecast for Russian economy

World Bank Building

Russian analysts cite the rise in oil prices and economic reforms, including the devaluation of the ruble, among the main reasons for the recent improvement in the country’s economic performance. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – KIRA EGOROVA, RBTH – June 10, 2016) There may be a light at the end of the tunnel for the beleaguered Russian economy; […]

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Life after facts: how Russian state media defines itself through negation

The image of “Russian propaganda” as a powerful machine where all cogs and wheels work in harmony is not entirely accurate – and here’s why. (opendemocracy.net – Alexey Kovalev – June 13, 2016) Alexey Kovalev is a journalist and translator. He has previously worked for many Russian and foreign media, including as correspondent for Snob. He was the editor-in-chief at […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Speech at the official reception to mark the national holiday Russia Day

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Kremlin.ru – June 12, 2016) President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends, colleagues, I congratulate you on Russia Day. This is one of our major national holidays, as today we honour our country, our Russia, that we love and take pride in. The civic, labour and military valour of the Russian people is evidenced by the many victories and achievements throughout […]

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Day of Russia symbolizes unity of people – Putin

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Interfax – June 12, 2016) The Day of Russia, the country’s National Day, reflects the responsibility of Russians for the country’s present and future, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on June 12. “This holiday marks such utmost important values as Motherland, patriotism, and the unity of the people, reflecting our warm and sincere feelings about Russia, our responsibility for its […]

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How the reporting of the British media changed during the Marseille cashes

Rotating Soccer Ball

Subject: How the reporting of the British media changed during the Marseille cashes Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2016 ) From: Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> Being French, having lived in England for half of my life, and being Russophile, I followed the Marseille streetfight events and the way they were reported in the British press with a special interest. In the France […]

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Life Through a Different Lens: Moscow’s Jewish Film Festival

File Photo of Reel of Film

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ruth Moore – June 13, 2016) Tomorrow is opening night of the Moscow Jewish Film Festival, a cultural event offering Muscovites the chance to become acquainted with the world of Jewish professional cinematography. Over the course of the week, more than 35 films with a focus on Jewish culture will show at leading cultural venues […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-107 :: Tuesday, 14 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#107 Tuesday, 14 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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Putin’s Core Support Begins to Waver; Working-class Russians hurt by recession look for someone to blame-in an election year

Kremlin and River

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Ragozin – June 9, 2016) Russia embarks on an almost two-year-long election season this summer that ends with a presidential contest in 2018. But unlike previous years, the country’s faltering economy has taken its toll on lower-income voters who blame the Duma and the cabinet for their plight. Five years ago, allegations of vote rigging […]

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West Must Again Shift from Containing Russia’s Leaders to Defeating Them, Pastukhov Says

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 12, 2016) Just as was the case at the beginning of the 1980s, the United States must shift from a policy of containing Moscow, which the Kremlin viewed then and views now as a sign of weakness, to one designed to bring victory over it, according to St. Antony’s College historian […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-106 :: Monday, 13 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#106 Monday, 13 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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Deconstructing Moscow’s Constructivist Legacy

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola Cichowlas – June 9, 2016) [Photos here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/deconstructing-moscows-constructivist-legacy/571579.html] When Moscow city deputy Alexandra Parushina asked the men in bulldozers if they had permission to tear down a 1920s housing estate in her constituency on June 6, security guards threw her to the ground. While they held her down, injuring her leg, the demolition began. […]

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RBTH: U.S. elections: Does Moscow really care if it’s Clinton or Trump?

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

Hillary Clinton has warned that should her opponent, Republican maverick Donald Trump win the U.S. presidential elections, “They’ll be celebrating in the Kremlin.” Is she right? And does this mean that a Clinton presidency would be perceived as a disaster in Moscow? (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – VLADIMIR MIKHEEV, SPECIAL TO RBTH – June 8, 2016) Addressing her […]

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Russia’s young people aren’t angry, they’re furious

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

Five years after Russia’s protest movement turned sour, young people are still frustrated with the status quo. (opendemocracy.net – Mikhail Ugarov – June 8, 2016) Mikhail Ugarov is a Moscow-based writer, art director and director born in 1956 in Arkhangelsk, Russia. He graduated from the department of dramatic arts at Moscow’s Gorky Literature Institute and went on to direct numerous […]

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RBTH: Russia and China – unfulfilled potential of complementarity

Asia Map

Despite excellent political ties between Russia and China, bilateral trade stands at just $68 billion. This, obviously, makes both countries look for new sources of growth. A Skolkovo analyst shares her views on how Moscow and Beijing can fulfill their trade potential. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ANASTASIA BELOSTOTSKAYA, SPECIAL TO RBTH – June 9, 2016) The author […]

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Grant policy should counterbalance ‘foreign agents’ – Russian human rights ombudsman

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) – Russian human rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova called for the streamlining of grant policies in Russia to support socially-oriented organizations. “[It is necessary] to change or improve grant policies, it is significantly important for counterbalancing these developments which resulted in so-called ‘foreign agents’,” she said at an Open Tribune meeting on issues of civil society development […]

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What has Russia become for Germany: Rival, partner or challenge?

Map of Germany

A new draft of Germany’s “white book,” the country’s security doctrine, has ruffled feathers in Russia over the description of Moscow as a rival instead of a partner. Opinions vary drastically: Some say this is “absolutely no sign of confrontation,” while others believe Berlin is embarking on a strategy of “military antagonism” with Moscow. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru […]

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Ordinary Russians Mistakenly Placing Their Hopes in Donald Trump, Bykov Says

Donald Trump

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 8, 2016) That Vladimir Putin should express his admiration and support for presumptive Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is no surprise. Not only does Trump reflect some of the same populist and nationalist themes the Kremlin leader does, but Putin welcomes Trump’s unilateralism and isolationism as something that might benefit Russia. […]

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Jailed for a repost: The definition of extremism in Russia gets ever looser

Kremlin and River

Russia has seen a dramatic rise in criminal prosecutions on charges of internet extremism over the last few months. Yet most of these cases concern not the creation of extremist content but retweeting, liking or reposting it. RBTH found out more. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – YEKATERINA SINELSCHIKOVA, RBTH – June 7, 2016) On Feb. 20, Yekaterina Vologzhenova, […]

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Five Foreign Organizations Declared ‘Undesirable’ in Russia This Year

Yury Chaika file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 9, 2016) Five foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been labelled “undesirable” by the Kremlin in the past year, the Vedomosti newspaper reported Wednesday. Russia’s Prosecutor General Yury Chaika told the State Duma that investigations into the NGOs are continuing with the help of the Foreign Ministry. The investigations seek to establish if the NGOs […]

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Putin Is Growing Organic Power One T-34 Tank-Tomato at a Time; Backed by billionaires’ cash, Russian food exports are now worth more than Kalashnikovs and all other military hardware combined.

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anatoly Medetsky, Matthew Campbell, Yuliya Fedorinova – June 7, 2016) [Photos and charts here bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-06-07/putin-is-growing-organic-power-one-t-34-tank-tomato-at-a-time] Deep in the Caucasus, downriver from Europe’s highest peak, North Korean women roam Soviet-era hothouses growing what tycoon Vladimir Evtushenkov is betting will be his next big bounty: the T-34 battle tomato. The plump hybrids, named for the fearsome tank that […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-105 :: Thursday, 9 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#105 Thursday, 9 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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Anti-doping rule breakers will be harshly punished – Mutko

Olympic Rings Lit at Night, adapted from image at state.gov

MOSCOW. June 9 (Interfax) – The harshest measures will be taken against those who were caught violating anti-doping rules, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said. “If this is established, naturally, we will take the harshest measures against every person. All our correspondence will be examined, and even if anyone participated in this scheme with him [Grigory Rodchenkov, former head of […]

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Soviet Nostalgia: 5 Moscow Exhibitions That Hark Back to the USSR

Aerial View of Moscow From Beyond Stadium, file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Andrei Muchnik – June 9, 2016) Late Mashkov Ilya Mashkov became famous as a member of the “Jack of Diamonds” artists’ group, which included leading figures of Russian avant-garde such as Malevich, Goncharova and Kandinsky. However following the revolution Mashkov adopted socialist realism and painted scenes of farmworkers and life at a Soviet resorts in […]

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Lawmakers: More U.S. Pushback Needed Against Russian Aggression

U.S. Capitol at Twilight With Washington Monument, National Mall, Washington, D.C., Environs and Sunset in Background

(Voice of America – voanews.com – Pamela Dockins – June 8, 2016) U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that the Obama administration may not be engaged enough in countering what they view as Russia’s bad behavior in Ukraine and Georgia. “I worry that the message that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin must be taking from our response is that his limit-testing aggression […]

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VIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: Russian Violations of Borders, Treaties, and Human Rights – U.S. Senate Testimony by Assistant Secretary Victoria Nuland

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

Russian Violations of Borders, Treaties, and Human Rights Testimony, Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs Statement Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Washington, DC, June 7, 2016, As prepared [Video of hearing also appeared here http://www.c-span.org/video/?410738-1/federal-officials-testify-human-rights-violations-russia][Video includes all speakers and some lawmakers; Nuland testimony transcript follows below] Thank you Chairman Corker, Ranking Member Cardin, and members […]

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Russian Elite Not Only Believes Its Own Propaganda But is Basing Its Actions on It, New Russian Document Shows

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 7, 2016) The Moscow Council on Foreign and Defense Policy released at the end of May a document describing Russian foreign policy for the remainder of this decade. It is filled with propagandistic shibboleths heard every day on Russian TV, and the policies that it recommends flow from them rather than […]

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Fewer than Half of Ukrainians Blame Moscow Alone for War in the Donbass, New Survey Finds

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, June 8, 2016) Forty-eight percent of Ukrainians blame Moscow for the war in the Donbas, while 33 percent blame both Moscow and Kyiv and nine percent blame only Kyiv, according to polls conducted by Ukraine’s Razumkov Center for a report on the evolution of Ukrainian identity. That report, now available online at […]

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Savchenko Says Willing To Hold Peace Talks With Separatists

Nadiya Savchenko file photo, adapted from image at osce.usmission.gov

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – June 8, 2016) Ukrainian airwoman Nadia Savchenko says she is willing to talk with Russia-backed separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine to try to end the nation’s two-year-old conflict. Savchenko told Ukrainian media on June 7 she believes direct peace talks with separatist leaders would be more effective than the current, unproductive talks that have included Russia, […]

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Russians like Trump better than Clinton – poll

File Photo of White House with South Lawn and Fountain

(Interfax – June 7, 2016) Russians are not united as to what outcome of the U.S. presidential elections would serve Russian interests best, the Public Opinion Foundation said in its report. Some 37 percent of respondents were undecided, and 26 percent claimed that U.S. election results were immaterial to Russia: “the U.S. attitude to Russia would not improve, no matter […]

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The Kremlin’s Arctic Plans: More Gutted than Grand

Arctic Map

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Sergei Medvedev, Professor of Politics; Deputy Dean for International Affairs Higher School of Economics, Moscow – June 7, 2016) Article also appeared at ponarseurasia.org/memo/kremlin-arctic-plans-more-gutted-grand Over the past decade, Russia has launched a diplomatic and symbolic offensive in the Arctic, supported by increased military activity, grandiose economic plans, and showy assertions of sovereignty. Russian officials have […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-104 :: Wednesday, 8 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#104 Wednesday, 8 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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Interfax: Russia won’t put up with unsubstantiated slander against it on issue of doping in sports – Peskov

Dmitry Peskov file photo adapted from image at kremlin.ru/wikimedia commons

MOSCOW. June 8 (Interfax) – Russia is against the use of doping in sports, but that does not mean that it is ready to put up with unsubstantiated slander against it on this issue, Russian presidential press officer Dmitry Peskov said. “We all remember that the Russian president has given an absolutely clear signal that the use of any types […]

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New Bill Forces Russian Companies to Disclose Owner Information

Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – June 8, 2016) Russia’s State Duma has passed a new bill obliging companies to disclose information on their beneficiaries at the request of the authorities, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday. The bill was prepared as part of the country’s push to improve economic transparency and decrease the use of offshore holdings. Russian President Vladimir […]

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No return to previous oil, gas price situation – Ulyukayev

Alexei Ulyukayev file photo

MINSK. June 8 (Interfax) – Oil and gas prices are expected to rise, but there will be no return to previous situation, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told reporters in Minsk. “Of course a recovery of oil and gas prices is under way. Our low was $130 per thousand cubic meters, now it is $170 or more and I think […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Visit to the Bolshoi Theatre [with Benjamin Netanyahu]

Bolshoi Theater file photo

(Kremlin.ru – June 7, 2016) Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu with his spouse visited the Bolshoi Theatre to watch a gala concert by Bolshoi Theatre and Israeli Opera performers, dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Russia and Israel. Address before the concert dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the resumption […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Visit to Rossiya Segodnya

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Kremlin.ru – June 7, 2016) Vladimir Putin visited the Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency to congratulate journalists on the agency’s 75th anniversary and speak at the New Era of Journalism: Farewell to Mainstream international media forum. The President also attended the presentation of German journalist Hubert Seipel’s book, Putin. Inside View of Power, at Rossiya Segodnya and spoke with the […]

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Moscow Times: Putin Urges Global Authorities to Ensure Freedom Of Information

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – June 8, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin has urged governments around the world to protect the freedom of the press, the TASS news agency reported Tuesday. “There can’t be a situation where some governments talk about freedom information when they like what they are hearing, yet immediately decry information they don’t like […]

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Russians believe policy should not change under sanctions

EU Map

(Interfax – June 8, 2016) Most Russians (71 percent) are expecting the European Union to extend sanctions against Russia this summer, and 15 percent claim the opposite, the Levada Center told Interfax. Fourteen percent of 800 respondents polled in 137 populated localities in 48 regions on May 27-30 could not predict what the European authorities would do. The share of […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-103 :: Tuesday, 7 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#103 Tuesday, 7 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Michael McFaul: Russians were never promised NATO non-expansion to Eastern Europe” – Postimees Estonia News

NATO Meeting file photo

We have heard from Russian politics different accusations incl. that West has broken it’s promise that NATO would not expand into the East. How would you comment: has there ever been a promise not to expand NATO or is it just a myth? This assertion is a complete myth. I worked closely with Russian officials in negotiating many agreements, including […]

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NEWSWATCH: “America Needs to Break its Old Habits on Russia. Washington’s strategy is a relic of a bygone era.” – The National Interest/Thomas Graham

Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

… there should be no doubt that the goal that had animated policy since the end of the Cold War … slow but steady integration of Russia into the Euro-Atlantic community — is beyond reach. Russia is no longer interested, if it ever was. Its ambition is to fortify itself as an independent great power based in central Eurasia. It […]

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Why the U.S. Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Spy on Russia

File Photo of Atlas Rocket on Launch Pad

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Eli Lake – June 6, 2016) When President Barack Obama came into office, the fact that Russia sold the U.S. the rocket engines it needed for launches was a feature of U.S. foreign policy, not a bug. Obama was trying to reset the U.S. relationship with Moscow, and that meant finding areas where the two former […]

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RBTH: Russian business repatriates money from offshore zones

Cash, Calculator, Pen

Russian entrepreneurs have decided to bring their money back home from offshore havens. Statistics show that the largest amounts have returned to Russia from the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Additionally, $1 billion or more has entered Russia from such countries as Germany, France and the UK. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ALEXEI LOSSAN, RBTH – […]

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NEWSLINK “RBTH/Gazeta.ru/Fyodor Lukyanov: “Will Russia integrate into the Western world, post-sanctions? Recent overtures by top EU and German officials usher in hopes that relations between Moscow and the West could be on the verge of a turn for the better – but the real question is what direction Russia will take after sanctions are lifted and the tensions have abated.”

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth » Read more

RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-102 :: Monday, 6 June 2016

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#102 Monday, 6 June 2016 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or the George Washington University. JRL homepage: russialist.org – JRL […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Missile defense-Would the Kremlin pitch a deal?” – Brookings/Steven Pifer

Aegis Ashore Missile Defense File Photo

On May 12, U.S. officials declared the U.S. SM-3 missile interceptor site at Deveselu, Romania operational. The next day, ground was broken at Redzikowo, Poland for a second SM-3 installation. Moscow immediately made clear its displeasure at these developments, repeating its past claims that U.S. missile defenses in Europe pose a threat to Russia. At the end of May, President […]

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Boycott Russia Today facebook page: “BRT reading list of critical online articles about RT, 2010-2016”

Kremlin and St. Basil's file photo

(Facebook – Boycott Russia Today facebook page – reused with permission) Bullough, Oliver (2013) Inside Russia Today: counterweight to the mainstream media, or Putin’s mouthpiece?: http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/world-affairs/2013/05/inside-russia-today-counterweight-mainstream-media-or-putins-mou Fitzpatrick, Catherine (2010) More Moral Equivalency from Vadim Nikitin: http://3dblogger.typepad.com/minding_russia/2010/04/more-moral-equivalency-from-vadim-nikitin.html Gray, Rosie (2014) How The Truth Is Made At Russia Today: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/how-the-truth-is-made-at-russia-today Ioffe, Julia (2010) What Is Russia Today? http://www.cjr.org/feature/what_is_russia_today.php?page=all Kincaid, Cliff (2011) Russian […]

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Critical thinking at (the) stake: Ukraine’s witch hunt against journalism

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

In the two years since Ukraine’s Maidan protests, Ukrainian society has become increasingly politically active – with unintended consequences. (opendemocracy.net – Oles Petik and Halyna Herasym – June 3, 2016) Oles Petik is an anarchist volunteering as an editor and translator at a Kyiv-based grassroots publishing cooperative. Halyna Herasym holds an MA in media and communications at Ukrainian Catholic University […]

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