Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#162 :: 6 September 2013

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#161 :: 5 September 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
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POLITICS

1. ITAR-TASS: Russia will help Syria in case of external aggression.
2. Nezavisimaya Gazeta editorial: Moscow Warns. Moscow Has No Levers of Influence Over the United States Apart From Reminders of Its Military Might.
3. http://jezebel.com: The Daily Show’s Guide to Diplomacy With Russia Might Heal the World.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why American students still go to Russia. Despite another decline in U.S.-Russian relations, interest in Russia among American students is steadily growing. This indicates that exchange programs remain a powerful tool for rooting out the Cold War mentality.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines: 40 percent of Russian Internet users are small-town.
6. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say, Sept. 6, 2013.
7. RIA Novosti: High-Ranking Russian Officials Misreport Income ­- Kremlin.
8. Moscow Times: Mayoral Hopefuls Make Final Push.
9. Moscow News: Election Season: Voting for Moscow Mayor.
10. Interfax: Golos doesn’t expect vote-rigging in Moscow, Moscow region.
11. Interfax: Golos denies reported emigration of its head Liliya Shibanova.
12. Moscow Times: Televised Mayoral Debates Go Unnoticed.
13. Interfax: Russian opposition activist sees Putin’s remarks as good sign.
14. New York Times: Mayoral Run by Putin Critic Vexes Kremlin.
15. The Economist: Moscow’s mayoral elections. Inspired by “The Wire.” A charismatic dissident runs an American-style campaign.
16. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Putin waves off ‘anti-gay’ law criticism ahead of Obama’s LGBT visit.
17. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Vladimir Putin Is A Lot Of Bad Things But He’s Not An Anti-Semite.
18. Moscow News: Anna Arutunyan, Anti-gay laws? Don’t take the bait.
19. Moscow Times: Michael Bohm, The Roots of Russia’s Homophobia.
20. Moscow Times: Stalin Won’t Be Called a ‘Bloody Butcher’ in New Standardized History Texts.

ECONOMY

21. Russia Beyond the Headlines: From no child left behind to every man for himself. During the Soviet era, teachers and scientists were revered and their dedication to their work reflected their status. Now that today’s students aspire to careers in business or entrepreneurship, are educational standards slipping?
22. Interfax: More long-term investment needed to solve employment issues – Putin.
23. Reuters: Russia may order price freeze as growth worries pile up.
24. Moscow News: Russian aviation suffers from state interference – report.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

25. Moscow News: Syria raised, but leaders mostly stick to economy at G20.
26. Moscow Times: Syria and BRICS Mark Start of G20 Summit.
27. Kremlin.ru: Speech at working session of G20 leaders.
28. Kremlin.ru: Speech at the second working session of G20 leaders.
29. ITAR-TASS: G20 summit fails to find solution to Syrian crisis, all hopes pinned on Geneva-2.
30. Interfax: Russian-US differences on Syria not cold war – pundit. (Lukyanov)
31. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Obama finds himself trapped on Syrian issue. Russian pundits believe that the U.S. is hesitating to strike Damascus alone, but it is not willing to give up, either.
32. The Independent (UK): Robert Fisk, Vladimir Putin will happily let Obama sweat it out alone in Syria. There is many a cautionary tale for Arab leaders ­ and for arrogant Western ones ­ about Moscow’s dealings with the Middle East.
33. Interfax: Senior Russian MP says US strike on Syria would spread nuclear weapons.
34. Interfax: Syria’s air defense system capable of intercepting any planes, half of missiles – Russian expert.
35. ITAR-TASS: Syrian rebels use primitive elements of chemical weapons, Russian expert believes.
36. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Some hate war, some adore it.
37. International Herald Tribune: Dmitri Trenin, Putin Takes Center Stage on Syria.
38. Moscow Times: Samuel Charap, U.S.-Russia Relationship Stuck in the Soviet Era.
39. Komsomolskaya Pravda: Russian Human Rights Groups Decline Invitation To Meet With Obama.
40. ITAR-TASS: Russian parliamentary delegation cancels plans to visit US to discuss Syria.
OTHER RESOURCES
41. Mark Teeter: Current Moscow TV programming.
42. Bill Bowring: New book: Law, Rights and Ideology in Russia: Landmarks in the Destiny of a Great Power.
43. Timothy Post: Kremlin_ru_eng Live Twitter Feed.
44. IERES – The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies: September 12 – Reset the Reset? The Future of U.S.-Russia Relations.

LONG ITEM

45. Democracy: A Journal of Ideas: Andrew Weiss, Winter Has Come. The “reset” with Russia worked, until Putin sabotaged it. Now the relationship is in tatters. Here’s how to save it­if we even want to bother.