Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#24 :: Wednesday, 5 February 2014

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#24 :: 5 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
JRL homepage: russialist.org
JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php

POLITICS

1. ITAR-TASS: Putin named politician number one in first world poll among news agencies, news media.
2. Moscow Times: Putin Rolls Out His English for IOC Opening in Sochi.
3. Kremlin.ru: Opening of International Olympic Committee session in Sochi.
4. ITAR-TASS: Putin finds common language with leopard cub, journalists don’t.
5. Kremlin.ru: Visit to Persian Leopard Breeding and Rehabilitation Centre.
6. CNN: Daniel Treisman, Vladimir Putin’s remarkable comeback.
7. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Feb. 5.
8. RIA Novosti: Kremlin Suspends Questioned Reform of Wildlife Reserves.
9. ITAR-TASS: Russian society in dismay over country’s first-ever school shooting.
10. RIA Novosti: Three-quarters of crimes in Moscow went unsolved last year.
11. Moscow Times: Dozhd Television Faces Closure But Strives to Stay Afloat.
12. Interfax: Russian rights council asks minister to probe providers’ dropping of Dozhd TV.
13. RIA Novosti: Study Suggests Russian Medal Count to Be Boosted by Home Advantage.
14. RIA Novosti: Half of Russians Approve of Hosting Olympics in Russia.
15. Washington Post: Max Fisher, Americans don’t want Olympics in Russia – but not because they care about human rights.
16. www.russiatoday.com: Sochi Olympic debt ‘manageable’ – Fitch.
17. New York Times: An Olympics in the Shadow of a War Zone.
18. Wall Street Journal: Matthew Bryza, Near to Sochi, Far From Free Of Russia. Russian troops occupy Georgia, just a cross-country ski race away from the Games.

ECONOMY

19. Moscow Times: Russia to Send 32-Member Permanent Mission to WTO.
20. Moscow Times: Gazprom Overspending Dwarfs Sochi Costs, Expose Says.
21. Interfax: Medvedev orders analyzing relocation of HQs of some state-own companies, govt bodies to Far East – deputy PM.
22. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Natalia Orlova, Russian retail lending may be hitting a growth ceiling. While developed economies face the need to deleverage, emerging markets still have the opportunity to grow by taking on more debt.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

23. Moscow Times: After Rocky 2 Years, McFaul Quits as Ambassador.
24. Interfax: McFaul says his decision to leave Moscow unrelated to US-Russia relations.
25. Interfax: McFaul: Washington eyeing Russia-US summit in Sochi this summer.
26. Interfax: Interview. McFaul: U.S. still sees Iranian threat as risk that should be minimized with missile defense system.
27. Interfax: Outgoing U.S. ambassador shouldn’t have tried to build relations with Russian opposition – Duma deputy. (Alexei Pushkov)
28. Russia Direct: The end of the U.S.-Russia reset? U.S. Ambassador McFaul steps down. U.S. Ambassador Michael McFaul’s decision to resign comes against a backdrop of worsening of U.S.-Russia relations. Some pundits suggest McFaul is leaving because his project – the U.S.-Russia reset – is over. Yet several also argue that despite difficulties, the reset was at least partially a success.
29. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, The McFaul Experience.
30. RFE/RL: Recalling McFaul: Four Views On Outgoing U.S. Ambassador To Russia.
31. ITAR-TASS: US image of democracy champion looks tarnished.
32. RIA Novosti: More Russians Support Ban on US Adoptions – Poll.
33. ITAR-TASS: US reviews its Syrian policy vector – experts.
34. Moscow Times: Report on EU Corruption Could Spur Russian Recrimination.
35. Moscow Times: Sergei Aleksashenko, Russia’s Eurasia Model Becoming a Grim Reality.
36. Valdai Discussion Club: David Lane, Eurasian Integration as a Response to Neo-Liberal Globalisation.
37. Carnegie Moscow Center: Thomas de Waal, Sochi and Georgia: A Missed Opportunity.
38. AP: Analysis: Amid protests, Ukraine more divided than ever.
39. Reuters: Protests hurting Ukraine economy: interim PM.
40. Business New Europe/Concorde Capital: Ukraine leadership starkly divided on nation’s future.
41. Business New Europe/OSW: Crisis in Ukraine: the first step towards compromise.
42. New York Times editorial: Saving Ukraine.
43. The American Conservative: Patrick Buchanan, Is Mob Rule in Ukraine in America’s Interest?
44. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin Doesn’t Want to Be a Stalin But He May End a Milosevic, Russian Analysts Say.