Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#142 :: 6 August 2013

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#142 :: 6 August 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say, Aug. 6, 2013.
2. Reuters: Kremlin doctor signals Putin is in good health.
3. Kommersant: September Regional Elections Marked by Multiplicity of Formats.
4. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Russians not interested in new political parties.
5. Kommersant: Moscow Mayoral Candidates’ Use of Internet for Campaigning Purposes Examined.
6. Wall Street Journal: Against the Odds, a Run for Moscow Mayor. Activist Alexei Navalny, Freed on Bail, Campaigns Despite Poor Prospect of Win.
7. www.opendemocracy.net: Mikhail Loginov, Aleksei Navalny takes on ‘the fools and the roads’
8. Moscow Times: Sergei Markov, Navalny’s Orange Revolutionary Plans for Russia.
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines Asia Pacific: Major gender gap in Russian politics. Women are poorly represented in politics in Russia, although a handful of women politicans have reached key positions.
10. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Moscow opens a tent camp for illegal migrants.
11. Science: Move to Merge Russian Physics Institutes Draws Fire.
12. Moscow News: Natalia Antonova, Russia’s judicial system: summertime sadness.
13. Reuters: Russia’s Khodorkovsky has jail term trimmed, attacks courts.
14. RAPSI: Politkovskaya Murder Witnesses to be Questioned Behind Closed Doors.
15. ITAR-TASS: Many Russians indignant over guilty verdict for rural teacher convicted of bribery.
16. www.russiatoday.com: Russia’s ‘gay propaganda’ law causes outrage abroad but finds support at home.
17. AP: IOC using ‘quiet diplomacy’ with Russia.
18. Voice of America: James Brooke, Is Russia Turning Protestant?
19. Moscow News: Moscow’s killing fields: inside a Stalinist execution site.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

20. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Why Russia’s ‘Pivot To The East’ Isn’t Going To Work In One Chart.
21. RFE/RL: Dan Wisniewski, Russia Looks East, Yet Again.
22. International Herald Tribune: Judy Dempsey, The Kremlin Tries Charm to Counter E.U.
23. ITAR-TASS: Russian lawyer sends invitation to Snowden’s father, friends and attorney.
24. ITAR-TASS: Experts say Snowden issue doesn’t impact Russian-American relations.
25. MWC News: Richard Falk, Snowden’s Asylum: ‘It’s the law, stupid’
26. AFP: Obama to decide on Russia trip ‘in coming days‘
27. The National Interest: Nikolas Gvosdev, Obama-Putin Summit At Risk.
28. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Bloodhound Gang: US band’s crude act with flag earns Russia’s wrath.
29. Moscow Times: Steven Pifer, Putin’s Problem of Irrelevance.
30. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Moscow-Washington hot line turns fifty.
31. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russian Diplomatic Academy Head Views Ties With China, Urges Closer Cooperation. (Yevgeniy Bazhanov)
32. Russia & India Report/Vzglyad: Anatoly El Murid, Why a war between China and Russia is unlikely. China can theoretically have issues with Russia, but only if the latter finds itself completely disintegrated as a nation for whatever reason.
33. Russia Direct: Are cyberwars between major powers possible? A group of Russian cybersecurity experts debate the likelihood of a cyberwar involving the U.S., Russia or China.
34. RIA Novosti: Russian Experts Comment On Chance Of Dialogue Between Iran And The West.
35. Al-Monitor: Fyodor Lukyanov, Russia Considers Saudi Angle in Syria.
36. Wall Street Journal: BIDZINA IVANISHVILI, Progress Through Pragmatism in Georgia.Our government still needs international support to defy the skeptics and achieve our goals.
37. Russia Direct: Nikita Mendkovich, The new deadlock in Russian-Georgian relations. Until Tbilisi shows flexibility on its core strategic objectives, don’t expect a rapprochement between Russia and Georgia anytime soon.
38. Russia Direct: Dmitry Shlapentokh, Georgia’s love-hate relationship with Russia. The search for answers to Georgia’s future should start with a look at its troubled past.
39. BBC Monitoring: US ambassador to Georgia says ‘all sides made mistakes’ in 2008 war with Russia.
40. Carnegie Moscow Center Eurasia Outlook: Lilia Shevtsova, Eurasian Union: Myth, Imitation, or the Real Thing?