RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#1 :: Saturday 2 January 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#1
Saturday 2 January 2016

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. Kremlin.ru: New Year Address to the Nation.
2. AP: PUTIN CALLS FOR COOPERATION WITH US IN MESSAGE TO OBAMA.
3. Interfax: Medvedev: New year to bring bright events, new accomplishments.
4. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, LOOKING FOR BETTER IN 2016. (re #5)
5. Washington Post: Lack of Russia experts has some in U.S. worried.
6. Washington Post: Abbott Gleason, scholar of Russian history and culture, dies at 77.
7. The Brown Daily Herald: Retired History Professor Tom Gleason dies. Campus-wide email highlights Gleason’s “remarkable” personal, professional life.
8. Moscow Times: Michele Berdy, Russia’s Winning Words Of the Year 2015.
9. Xinhua: Hope floats in cold winter — How Russia braves dual challenges.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: 2015 in review: From the murder of Nemtsov to blackout in Crimea. The murder of Boris Nemtsov was arguably the most discussed domestic political issue in Russia this year, along with the bankruptcy of Transaero, the blackout in Crimea and protests by long-haul truckers.
11. TASS: A difficult year for Russia.
12. Russia Beyond the Headlines: 2015 in review: 8 Russian figures who made an impact this year. RBTH has selected eight people and things from various fields of Russian life who had a significant influence on domestic and global affairs in their spheres in 2015.
13. Russia Direct: 2015 as seen by Russian pundits. Russian think tanks sum up the past year and make predictions for the hear ahead. The consensus appears to be that things were tough in 2015, but they will get even tougher in 2016.
14. Moscow Times: State vs Art: Russia’s 2015 Crackdown on Contemporary Culture.
15. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, How one Russian became an object lesson for all would-be protesters. Denis Lutskevich was not an activist, he just wanted to see the 2012 protests against Putin’s re-election. But he, along with two dozen others, served three and a half years in prison for doing so.
16. Russia Insider: Nicolai Petro, Russia’s Latest Human Rights Celebrity Is a Nut Case. (Vadim Tyumentsev)
17. Levada.ru: Russian opinion poll reveals support for protesting truckers.
18. Russia Direct: Dmitry Dokuchaev, What helped Russia’s economy survive in 2015? Even with falling oil prices, the Russian economy proved remarkably resilient in 2015, partly thanks to policies such as allowing the ruble to float freely.
19. Financial Times: Rouble slides amid fears for Russian economy.
20. TASS: Russian economy in lingering recession, hoping for recovery.
21. Reuters: Russian oil output hits post-Soviet record high in December 2015.
22. Reuters: Russia eyes trillion rubles from privatization in 2016: finance minister.
23. Interfax: Inflation in Russia reaches 12.9 per cent, highest since 2008 – statistics.
24. International Business Times: Russia could cut their energy costs by 20% by going 100% renewable.
25. TASS: Tiger-Goat Duo rockets to stardom in Russian cyber space on New Year’s Eve.
26. Interfax: Putin gives Kursk schoolgirl Labrador retriever puppy.
27. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, The Dog That Explains Russia.
28. Gazeta.ru: Pundit: Changes in Russia “inevitable” but not necessarily for the better. (Semen Novoprudskiy)
29. Washington Post: Andrei Soldatov and Irina Borogan, In Russia, political engagement is blossoming online.
30. www.rt.com: Russia’s ‘right to be forgotten’ bill comes into effect.
31. www.rt.com: Russia’s national security strategy for 2016 in 9 key points.
32. BBC: Russian security blueprint sees NATO expansion as threat.
33. Russia Direct: Debates: Russia’s foreign policy failures and achievements of 2015. As 2015 has already come to an end, Russia Direct picked up its best comments from prominent experts to outline the Kremlin’s most significant failures and achievements in its foreign policy in 2015.
34. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Russia and Ukraine Finally Break Up.
35. www.rt.com: ‘American exceptionalism’ hampers its war on terror – Lavrov.
36. Vineyard of the Saker/Kommersant: Interview of Michael T. Flynn, retired United States Army lieutenant general, former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). (re Syria etc.)
37. Paul Goble: Absent ‘Revolutionary Change,’ Russia’s Population Decline to Accelerate in Coming Decades, Experts Say.
38. Washington Post: Jim Hoagland, The unseemly energy deal between Germany and Russia. The proposed Nord Stream 2 pipeline project makes sense only if you’re Vladimir Putin.
39. BBC: Bridget Kendall, What next for President Putin?
40. Counterpunch.org: Charles Larson, After Stalin’s Death: Ludmila Ulitskaya’s “The Big Green Tent”
41. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview to Zvezda TV channel, December 30, 2015.

 

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