RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-173 :: Tuesday, 20 September 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#173
Tuesday, 20 September 2016
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1. www.opendemocracy.net: Daniel Voskoboynik, Russia: the tinderbox in the struggle for a safe climate. Russia is at the forefront of the global climate change struggle. We ignore it at our peril.
2. www.rt.com: Return of the KGB? Newspaper predicts major power ministry reforms in Russia.
3. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia to resurrect Soviet-era Ministry of State Security. The government is to create a super intelligence agency by reviving a Soviet-era ministry, merging three security bodies into one. The media have already started to compare the future structure with the KGB, which was all-powerful in the years of the Soviet Union. But to what extent is this comparison fair?
4. TASS: Russian Duma speaker believes giving up flat tax rate may be considered.
5. Interfax: Economic reform should be graded, without “shock therapy” – Putin.
6. TASS: United Russia win is voters’ reaction to sanctions – Putin.
7. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Why the Kremlin’s big win in Russian elections may not be a victory. United Russia came away Sunday with a landslide victory. But voter apathy, even in more anti-establishment regions like Sverdlovsk, may be the biggest factor in the pro-Putin party’s win.
8. BBC Monitoring: Russian press worried by ruling party’s control of Duma.
9. Russia Direct: Marina Obrazkova, Russia may not be so united behind United Russia. According to initial estimates, the party of power – United Russia – performed even better than expected in parliamentary elections. But how much support does the party really have in Russia?
10. http://theduran.com: Alexander Mercouris, What the Duma elections say about Russia. The elections to the Duma accurately reflect voting in the country. The elections confirm overwhelming support for Vladimir Putin and the government, and prove that Russia’s “liberal opposition” is no more than a fringe group.
11. www.rt.com: Leftist leader labels latest Russian poll a step towards 2-party system.
12. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Putin’s political system is now broken as well as the economic one.
13. Moscow Times: Eva Hartog, Will Russia’s Opposition Draw the Right Lessons From Electoral Defeat?
14. Carnegie Moscow Center: Denis Volkov, Russia’s Lost Liberals. Russia’s parliamentary election campaign again dealt a crushing blow to the country’s liberal parties, which still believe the key to their success is appearing on television, whether in commercials or in debates. This is a losing strategy; liberals must learn to listen to the Russian people’s needs to garner support.
15. Awful Avalanche: How Russian Duma Elections Proceeded in Kiev: A Blow By Blow Description.
16. Moscow Times: Richard Sakwa, Russia’s Post-Bolotnaya Regime Reset: Reality or Illusion? The State Duma elections of Sept. 18, 2016 reflect a number of tendencies in contemporary Russian politics.
17. The Unz Review: The Saker, Elections to the Russian Duma in 2016. Relevant or a waste of time and money?
18. Reuters: Russians’ real disposable income falls at fastest pace since 2009: data.
19. TASS: Expert says Russia’s GDP may rise 0.2% quarterly in Q3.
20. http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com: Guess The Last Country Which Still Has Positive Real Interest Rates–Russia!
21. Facebook: Eric Kraus, Nabiullina.
22. Wall Street Journal: Investors in Russia Reap Stellar Returns as Oil Shock Fades.
23. New York Times: Michael Khodarkovsky, So Much Land, Too Few Russians.
24. Sputnik: Pentagon ‘Succeeded in Ruining’ Lavrov-Kerry Deal on Syria. (Fyodor Lukyanov)
25. www.rt.com: Timing & other aspects of US strike on Syrian army suggest intentional provocation – Churkin.
26. www.rt.com: Russian, Syrian Air Forces did not strike UN aid convoy in Aleppo – Russian MoD.
27. Washington Post: Sara Bjerg Moller, The U.S. and Russia are actually cooperating in Syria. Can it work?
28. Consortiumnews.com: Alastair Crooke, Washington’s Hawks Push New Cold War. As a fragile and partial cease-fire in Syria totters, the back story is the political warfare in Washington where powerful hawks seek to escalate both the war in Syria and the New Cold War with Russia.
29. The Hill: Bloomberg asks Clinton if Russians were behind attack to help Trump.
30. Reuters: Skeptical of Russia, Clinton Seen Going Toe-To-Toe With Putin.
31. Wall Street Journal editorial: Putin’s Sham Vote. The Russian strongman wants democracy without real opposition.
32. Washington Post editorial: Putin got what he wanted this time. But the rest is a recipe for collapse. Though the president’s party won in parliamentary elections, Russia’s long-term future looks bleak.
33. Washington Post: Jackson Diehl, Putin’s lesson for Obama in Syria.
34. New York Times: Timothy Snyder, How a Russian Fascist Is Meddling in America’s Election.
35. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, BANDWAGON OF ERRORS. (re Snyder and Ivan Ilyin)
36. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, PLUS ÇA CHANGE…