Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#156 :: Wednesday 12 August 2015

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#156
12 August 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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RUSSIA

1. Moscow Times: Jonathan Power, Russia Is Feeling Under Attack From the West.
2. Times Literary Supplement (UK): Richard Sakwa, Is Russia really a kleptocracy? (re Karen Dawisha’s PUTIN’S KLEPTOCRACY)
3. Moscow Times: 8 Facts to Celebrate 100 Starbucks in Russia.
4. The Guardian (UK): Shaun Walker, Dill with it: Russia’s obsession with the spindly herb menace. It’s everywhere – on pizzas and sushi, in soups and hummus. Is there any food it cannot ruin?
5. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, A BUM RAP. (re Paul Goble)
6. Journalitico: Danielle Ryan, Thoughts on Russia’s decision to burn contraband Western produce.
7. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, No, Siberia Is Not Going Secede.
8. Business New Europe: Chris Weafer, BOOK REVIEW: “We are in power; that is democracy.” (by Vladimir Gel’Man)
9. Moscow Times: 15 Years on, Russians Less Inclined to Cast Blame for Kursk Submarine Tragedy.
10. Moscow Times: Kremlin Forms NGO Expert Group.
11. Russia Insider: Gilbert Doctorow, Andrei Kozyrev in the New York Times: On Treason, Defections and Other Ancient Russian Traditions. Russian ‘liberals’ are hailed as heroes in the West. In Russia, they’re widely viewed as traitors.
12. Fort Russ: Mikhail Delyagin, Russian universities are a battleground for Russia’s future.
13. www.opendemocracy.net/Colta.ru: ‘Is your mum a foreign agent?’ Russian NGOs, large and small, are facing closure after the blacklisting of their foreign funders. Colta.ru speaks to some of the organisations affected.
14. www.rt.com: ‘Foreign Agents’ discredited elections monitoring in Russia, top official claims.
15. Moscow Times: Vladimir Ryzhkov, Direct Elections Won’t Help Russia’s Opposition.
16. Bloomberg: Peter Orszag, Putin’s Other War? Russians’ Binge Drinking.
17. www.rt.com: Russia in recession on back of cheap oil, sanctions.
18. RIA Novosti: Food spending taking up most of Russian household budgets – poll.
19. Moscow Times: Russians Named Europe’s Least Productive Workers.
20. Russia Direct: Ben McPherson, Gazprom: What’s wrong with Russia’s energy giant? With the United States adding one of Gazprom’s biggest gas fields to its Russian sanctions blacklist, the Russian gas giant’s woes have been aggravated. The future of its numerous global pipeline projects could be in limbo.
21. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Recent Declines in Ruble Will not Derail Russia’s Recovery. Figures from the Central Bank show that Russian corporates’ foreign debt position has strengthened since last year whilst the latest fall in the Ruble is unlikely to add appreciably to inflation.
22. Stratfor.com: Conversation: Russia’s Perfect Economic Storm.
23. Moscow Times: Russia, U.S. Bicker Over Missile Defense Shield After Iran Agreement.
24. Moscow Times: Mark Galeotti, Russian Bear Should Be More Cuddly, Less Snarly.
25. Russia Direct: Natalia Ivanovs, How to re-brand Russian soft power. Room for debate: While the current era of Russian soft power may be over, there are still different approaches for implementing Russian soft power that focus more on the global appeal of Russian culture.
26. Russia Direct: Michael Gorodiloff, Just how effective are sanctions as a tool of foreign policy? On August 10, the U.S. extended economic sanctions against additional Russian officials and companies. It is high time to consider the impact of sanctions on Russia over the past year as well as on other countries throughout history.
27. Moscow Times: Sarah Lain, Who’ll Blink First in Russia Sanctions Standoff?
28. www.rt.com: ‘West’s aggressive stance pushes Russia to China, threatens Western dominance.’ (interview with Prosperity Capital Management’s Mattias Westman)
29. New York Times: New Diplomacy Seen on U.S.-Russian Efforts to End Syrian Civil War.
30. http://saradzhyan.livejournal.com: Simon Saradzhyan, Putin’s Change of Heart on Assad Could Pave Way for Cooperation against ISIL.
31. The Guardian (UK): Russia and Nato war games increase risk of real clash, report says.
32. Sputnik: NATO Blasts Report Warning of Risk of War With Russia.
33. New York Times: Ivan Krastev, What the West Gets Wrong About Russia.
34. Wall Street Journal editorial: Putin’s Tailspin Economy. The weak ruble is all pain and no gain as Russia enters a recession.
35. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Hillary Clinton’s Role in Losing Russia. (re Michael McFaul)

UKRAINE

36. The Daily Signal: Nolan Peterson, How a Swedish Sniper Found Redemption in the Ukraine War.
37. Vice.com: Jack Losh, Meet ‘Muslim’: The Chechen Commander Battling Russia With Some Unlikely Allies.
38. The National Interest: Julia Embody, Beware Ukraine’s Rising Right Sector. “With ample weapons and new recruits, Right Sector is not likely to disappear soon.”
39. Paul Goble: Kyiv Must Work to Isolate Moscow Rather than Negotiate with It, Yeremenko Says.
40. Interfax: Russian official warns of Kiev’s plans for “long-term confrontation” with Moscow.
41. TASS: More than 1,200 people held prisoner by Kiev – DPR human rights ombudsperson.
42. TASS: Donetsk republic does not rule out resumption of full-scale military actions in Donbas.
43. Bloomberg: Ukraine Says Attacks on Troops Intensify as Unrest Worsens.
44. TASS: Ukraine’s ban on books by modern Russian authors arouses surprise, irony in Russia.
45. www.rt.com: Culture Minister rules out tit-for-tat reaction after Kiev bans Russian authors.
46. Interfax: Netherlands: Investigators so far don’t confirm finding Buk parts on MH17 crash site in Donbass.
47. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, ‘So it WAS Putin?’ Fleet Street again twists MH17 coverage.
48. TASS: Risk of large-scale armed conflict in Transdniestria is not very high.
49. The Vineyard of the Saker: Saakashvili’s Silk Road Delusion.