RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-161 :: Thursday, 1 September 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#162
Thursday, 1 September 2016
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1. The National Interest editorial: Moscow Rules. Something dangerous is happening in the American media.
2. Sputnik: Russian Foreign Minister Says No Prerequisites for New Cold War Exist.
3. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs: Update from Ukraine. (interview with Nicolai Petro)
4. Russia Direct: Tatiana Indina, The role of social media in the Russian parliamentary campaign. Social media offers a way to gauge the Russian electorate’s mood ahead of the September parliamentary elections. For now, it appears that many Russians will simply vote for the status quo.
5. Intellinews.com: Support for ruling United Russia party slides in the polls.
6. BBC Monitoring: Russian election debate: Fighting corruption.
7. BBC Monitoring: Video looks at Russian ruling party’s “broken promises”
8. Gazeta.ru: Pyotr Orekhin, Who the president listens to; who risks being dropped from the ranks of Vladimir Putin’s advisers.
9. Russia Insider: Paul Goncharoff, On Balance, Sanctions Have Consolidated the Russian Economy. Foreign сompanies that stayed in the Russian market have benefited too.
10. Interfax: Russian economy in for slow, unsteady recovery – Central Bank.
11. Sputnik: Russia’s Economic Contraction Reaches Bottom – IMF.
12. Intellinews.com: Russian economy forecast to return to health over next three years.
13. Bloomberg: Russia Default Risk Falls to Lowest Since August Crimea Flare-Up.
14. Wall Street Journal: Russia May Cut Key Rate as Inflationary Expectations Ease.
15. Intellinews.com: Russia’s August PMI manufacturing data puts in surprise increase.
16. Bloomberg: Russia Says Oil Output Freeze Not Needed With Price Near $50.
17. www.rt.com: Billions of dollars moved illegally from Russia in last 3 yrs – watchdog.
18. Sputnik: Putin: Stopping Outflow of Population From Russia’s Far East is Key Challenge.
19. Kennan Institute: David Ramseur, The Tin God Behind the Ice Curtain: Observing the State in Russia’s Far East.
20. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Rakesh Krishnan Simha, Pacific pushback: How the Russia-China semi-alliance could stabilise Asia. The Chinese military’s use of the term “semi-alliance” is an accurate pointer to the direction the Russia-China relationship could take. The upcoming joint naval drills in the South China Sea are a way for both countries to push back at the West.
21. Russia Direct: Alexander Korolev, Why Russia and China want to limit US economic influence in Asia-Pacific. Given new attempts by the U.S. to create economic integration structures that will restrain Chinese dominance in the region, Beijing is working on building deeper economic cooperation with other Asia-Pacific countries – including Russia.
22. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russian state paper upbeat on Lavrov-Kerry talks on Syria.
23. The National Interest: Nikolay Pakhomov, The Need for U.S.-Russian Cooperation in Syria Is Growing. Both sides have strong, building reasons to work together.
24. Consortiumnews.com: Ray McGovern, When Putin Bailed Out Obama. (re Syria)
25. Rethinking Russia: Interview with Gordon Hahn about ISIS.
26. Twitter: Andrew Weiss (Carnegie Endowment), Nicely done esp Assange’s little-noted parroting of Russian narrative on #Ukraine, proxy attacks on Moscow’s rivals. (re New York Times article on Wikileaks)
27. www.rt.com: ‘Conspiracy, not journalism’: WikiLeaks blasts NYT story on ‘Russian intel’ behind DNC hack.
28. Washington Examiner: Assange grills NYT reporter after question on Russia.
29. The Intercept: Glenn Greenwald, Congressional Democrats Call on FBI to Investigate Their Political Adversaries’ Kremlin Ties.
30. Indian Punchline: MK Bhadrakumar, A hush descends over Central Asian steppes.
31. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, Heirless in Tashkent: How Autocratic Regimes Manage a Succession.
32. Bloomberg: A Year After $18 Billion Debt Deal, Ukraine Is Hardly Better Off.
33. Paul Goble: If Russia Plans to Attack Ukraine, It Will Do So in the Next Several Weeks, Felgengauer Says.
34. The Unz Review: The Saker, The Case for the Breakup of the Ukraine.
35. Center on Global Interest: Russia: A Reading Guide. Experts share the books that shaped their understanding of Russia.
36. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova, Moscow, August 31, 2016.