Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#23 :: Tuesday, 4 February 2014

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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#23 :: 4 February 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George
Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org
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POLITICS

1. Wall Street Journal: U.S. Ambassador to Russia to Step Down.
2. http://m-mcfaul.livejournal.com: Michael McFaul, It’s Time, My Friend, It’s Time.
3. ITAR-TASS: Russian government invites Navalny’s anti-corruption foundation to cooperate.
4. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Is Russia ‘Falling Apart?’ Not If You Look At The Numbers.
5. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russian writers and rulers: the love-hate relationship. For Russian literature, it’s time again for a political choice: for or against Putin? RBTH presents an overview of the problem and interviews experts.
6. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Feb. 4.
7. Kremlin.ru: Meeting of the Presidential Council for Culture and Art Presidium.
8. Moscow Times: First-Ever School Shooting Prompts Debate on Security.
9. RIA Novosti: Moscow School Shooting Hints at Pain of Forgotten Generation.
10. Interfax: Number of new Russian citizens order of magnitude larger than number of emigrants – FMS.
11. Russia Beyond the Headlines: What is it like to be a Muslim in Russia? RBTH talks to Muslims in Russia and searches for the reasons behind the country’s apprehensive attitude toward Islam.
12. Interfax: Russian bill tightening liability for extremism signed into law.
13. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, How a poll about Nazis brought a Russian TV station under Kremlin assault.
14. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Moscow Tightens Controls over Internet, But Those Affected Directed to Workarounds.
15. Moscow Times: Putin Arrives in Sochi Ahead of Winter Olympics Curtain-Raiser.
16. Interfax: No shortages of snow likely at Winter Olympics – expert.
17. R-Sport: Sochi Olympics fulfil carbon offset pledge – organizer.
18. Moscow Times: Olympic Facilities Still Not Ready.
19. RIA Novosti: Terrorist Attack Possible at Sochi Olympics – Experts.
20. Bloomberg: Sochi Spotlights Weakness as Caucasus Remains Restive.
21. Reuters: Olympics-Stop using Games for cheap political gain – IOC chief.
22. Moscow Times: Scott Antel, Enough Already About Security for Sochi.
23. Carnegie Moscow Center: Lilia Shevtsova, Sochi as a Showcase of Russia.
24. Moscow Times: Edward Lozansky, Don’t Rain on Putin’s Olympic Parade.

ECONOMY

25. Interfax: Russia’s economic amnesty applies to over 2,300 people.
26. Interfax: Russian manufacturing conditions worsen the most since summer 2009 in Jan – HSBC.
27. Deutsche Welle: Moscow unfazed by ruble depreciation.
28. Moscow Times: James Beadle, Mastering the Emerging Market Financial Vortex.
29. PV Magazine: Future of solar bright in Russia.
30. Russia Direct: Can Facebook win a bigger share of the Russian social media pie? As Facebook celebrates its 10th anniversary, Russia Direct analyzes the challenges the company faces in Russia.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

31. Russia Direct: Russian pundits: Crisis in Ukraine, U.S.-Russia Relations and Geneva-2. The future of Ukraine, the impact of Geneva-2 conference and U.S.-Russia relations were the focus of the Moscow-based think tanks in January. Russia Direct presents their monthly round-up.
32. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Stanislav Tkachenko, What integration with the EU means for Putin. The Russian president’s proposal to establish a free trade zone between the EU, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus – made at the recent EU-Russia summit – signals a major shift in Russian foreign policy.
33. Moscow Times: Russia Prioritizes Military Buildup as NATO Cuts Back.
34. Moscow Times: Alexander Golts, Stop the Drivel on Exiting Arms Treaties.
35. Carnegie Moscow Center: Mikhail Troitskiy, A Crisis of U.S.-Russian Arms Control?
36. The Voice of Russia: US provoking Russia to arms race, experts say.
37. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Top things Google says Russians are. RBTH gets to the heart of what Russians and Americans think about each other by examining the most searched phrases in Google and Russia’s main search engine, Yandex.
38. ITAR-TASS: Russia praises Syrian opposition choice in favor of peaceful settlement.
39. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: U.S. playing two sides with Iran. Moscow has been criticized for negotiating an oil deal with Tehran while there has been no reaction to a similar proposal from New Delhi.
40. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Fyodor Lukyanov, Fight for interspace. (re Ukraine)
41. Reuters: EU plays down reports of large-scale aid for Ukraine.
42. RIA Novosti: Ukraine Leader Eyeing Early Elections Over Use of Force – Lawmaker.
43. ITAR-TASS: Ukrainian situation tense despite lull in confrontation.
44. Reuters: Ukraine opposition seeks to cut president’s powers.
45. Interfax: Tymoshenko says opposition talks with authorities “pointless” – daughter.
46. Business New Europe: Graham Stack, Kharkiv politicians take high-stakes hard line against protests.
47. The Voice of Russia: Dmitry Babich, Danilyuk: a “civil society organizer” with burning desires and fiery substances.
48. The Voice of Russia: Ukrainian protesters keep ton of explosives in administrative building.
49. RFE/RL: Shadowy Specter Of Russia Hangs Over Rumored ‘Death Squads’ In Ukraine.

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

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