Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#117 :: Monday 15 June 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#117
Monday 15 June 2015
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.
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1. Kremlin.ru: Speech at the Russian Federation National Awards presentation ceremony.
2. Bloomberg: Dasha Zhukova: Russian Public Now Less Skeptical About Contemporary Art. The founder of Moscow’s Garage Museum of Contemporary Art speaks on the occasion of its grand re-opening, and discusses politics, the ruble, and Russia’s approach to experimental work.
3. www.rt.com: Russia cuts key rate to 11.5%, as inflation fears ease.
4. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, Ever So Great: The Dangers of Russia’s New Social Contract.
5. Russia Insider: Gilbert Doctorow, Does Russia Have a Future? There is a misguided consensus among American experts in political science and economics that Russia has no future.
6. http://catherinebrown.org: Catherine Brown, Deconstructing Russophobia.
7. Huffington Post: Former Ambassador Michael McFaul: A Lot Of Prominent Russians Don’t Like The Mess They’re In.
8. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, US Government Documents Prove It Conclusively – Putin Was NOT ‘Chosen’ by the Oligarchs. Declassified US government documents finally bury myth of Berezovsky hand-picking Putin and show Putin was always his own man.
9. Paul Goble: ‘Almost No One in Russia Wanted Real Democracy with Division of Powers,’ Gudkov Says.
10. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Daily looks at Russia’s recent tactical mistakes over Ukraine. (Mikhail Rostovskiy)
11. TASS: Russian experts warn UK, USA not to go too far in their anti-Russian rhetoric.
12. New York Times/Bloomberg: Albert Hunt, Confronting Russia Holds Peril for U.S.
13. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Ukraine’s Neo-Nazis Won’t Get U.S. Money.
14. Bloomberg: U.S. Readying Plan to Put Tanks on Putin’s Doorstep.
15. Sputnik: US Deploys Heavy Weaponry in Europe; Russia to ‘Answer Adequately’
16. TASS: US plans of deploying heavy weapons close to Russian borders will push Moscow for response.
17. Washington Times: Edward Lozansky, Solving the crisis in U.S.-Russia relations. There is an urgent need for bilateral talks to replace mutual disrespect.
18. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, U.S.-Russian Relations: The Problem Is Not Resolving the Relationship’s Core Problems.
19. Forbes.com: Tim Reuter, American Hawks Should Stop Flattering Themselves: They’re Not Playing A Great Game With Putin.
20. The National Interest: Maria Butina, The Bear and the Elephant. “It may take the election of a Republican to the White House in 2016 to improve relations between the Russian Federation and the United States.”
21. Sputnik: Saakashvili: 20 Years Needed to Reach Social Level of Yanukovych’s Ukraine.
22. Russia Direct: Where is the Middle East heading? Russian Middle East experts unanimously agree that the current deepening of division lines across the Middle East increases the risk of a bigger regional conflict and urge for close coordination with the West.
23. Russia Direct: Russia faces tough choices on what to do with Syria and ISIS. RD Interview: Russia Direct sat down with Alexei Malashenko, Moscow Carnegie Center’s expert in religion and security, to discuss the significance of the ISIS threat for Russia and the Kremlin’s shifting policy on Syria.
24. TASS: Ukrainian army shells Donetsk republic 191 times over past 24 hours – DPR.
25. www.rt.com: Aftermath of Donetsk shelling attack. (video)
26. Vineyard of the Saker: Very interesting public survey in the occupied Ukraine.
27. The International New York Times: Fiona Hill and Steven Pifer, Putin’s Risky Game of Chicken.
28. CNN.com: UN Ambassador Samantha Power believes that there could be a possibility of Russia invasion in Ukraine. (headline)