RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-27 :: Monday, 8 February 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#27
Monday 8 February 2016

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RUSSIA

1. DJ: More from Putin’s Russia. Pay attention:.
2. The National Interest: Doug Bandow, Why on Earth Would Russia Attack the Baltics?
3. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Clinton Stokes Fears Of Russians Coming To The Baltics, When They’re Actually Leaving.
4. Washington Times: Obama wants to quadruple military spending in Europe to counter Russian aggression.
5. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: USA increases military support for NATO allies amid “Russian threat”
6. Russia Insider: Edward Lozansky, Looming War: Who Is to Blame? Jokes aside…
7. Asia Times: Francesco Sisci, Game changer – Pope Francis and the Russian Patriarch.
8. www.rt.com: United Russia renews leadership, sees Communists as main competitors in upcoming elections.
9. www.opendemocracy.net: Tanya Lokshina, A law beyond improvement. Defining “political activity” may seem like an academic exercise, but in Russia, it is an existential one.
10. Gazeta.ru: Russian expert views possible consequences of Putin graft accusations. (Georgiy Bovt)
11. Interfax: Investment in oil and gas exploration may drop 10-15% in 2016.
12. Moscow Times: Russian Academia’s Struggle to Attract Top Talent.
13. Counterpunch.org: PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS and MICHAEL HUDSON, Privatization: the Atlanticist Tactic to Attack Russia.
14. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, How the Sanctions Are Preparing the Ground for the Next Russian Economic Boom. Sanctions have deepened Russia’s recession but by forcing Russian enterprises to deleverage they are strengthening Russia’s economy in the long term.
15. Russia Beyond the Headlines: When Baikal water will be more expensive than oil. The average price of a bottle of drinking water in Moscow has become more expensive than what a bottle of Brent crude would cost. RBTH asks experts if it would be worthwhile for Russia to start exporting water from Lake Baikal.
16. Sputnik: First Chinese Train Arrives to Russia as Part of New Silk Road.
17. Russia Direct: Nikolay Shevchenko, How rival economic blocs replaced the Cold War’s military blocs. Relations between Russia and the European Union have deteriorated significantly over the past year. Although the parties may not acknowledge it openly, parallel projects of economic integration are primarily to blame.
18. Wall Street Journal: Defense Think Tank Pushes for New Talks Between Russia and NATO.
19. Sputnik: Truth Time for Obama: Defeat Daesh With Russia’s Help or Try to Oust Assad.
20. The Unz Review: The Saker, Week Seventeen of the Russian Intervention in Syria: Does Erdogan Want War with Russia?
21. www.thedailybeast.com: Michael Weiss and Pierre Vaux, Are U.S. Missiles Taking Out Russian Military Officials?
22. TASS: West responds with propaganda barrage to Russia’s military successes in Syria.
23. Russia Beyond the Headlines: How likely is an armed conflict between Russia and Turkey? As relations between Russia and Turkey deteriorate, the question of a possible armed conflict between the two countries is being discussed more frequently. RBTH asked Russian and Turkish military experts to comment on how likely this outcome would be and asked them to lay out the possible scenarios.
24. Russia Direct: Jack Goldstone, Russia and the West need to think beyond Syria to deal with ISIS. The atrocities committed by Boko Haram in Nigeria are yet another example of the increasing global influence of ISIS and its capability to export terrorism. This should be a major concern for Russia and the West.
25. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, War to the End in Syria?
26. Russia Direct: Will urgent security matters push US, Russia to resume cooperation? RD Interview: Ambassador Richard Burt, former U.S. Chief Negotiator during the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START) in 1991, gives his take on how U.S.-Russia relations might change under the new American president. He also describes why cooperation between both countries to address urgent global security issues is so important
27. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why Russia is steaming back into the Pacific. Russia’s power projection in the Pacific is in sync with its growing assertiveness globally, but it doesn’t necessarily threaten the U.S.
28. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Italian magazine Limes, published on February 4, 2016.
29. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, The Obama Administration Has Just Recklessly Escalated Its Military Confrontation With Russia.

UKRAINE

30. Russia Insider: Ukraine Overrun with Violent Crime, Robbery and Gangs – Top Prosecutor. A snapshot of a self-proclaimed ‘European country’ – seems it was more peaceful under the last president.
31. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Ukraine’s European dream is dying. New resignation brings Ukraine reform hopes down to earth.
32. http://readukraine.com: Leonid Bershidsky, Ukraine Reformer Pulls Back Curtain.
33. Interfax-Ukraine: Abromavicius achieves partial success, has no conceptual strategy for economic policy.
34. Interfax-Ukraine: Abromavicius calls for replacing prosecutor general, forming technocratic government chaired by Jaresko.
35. http://empr.media: Interview. Aivaras Abromavicius: ‘Reshuffling old methods is not reform’
36. Kyiv Post: Paul Niland, Poroshenko, Shokin — clean up your act or get out
37. Financial Times editorial: Ukraine’s last chance to secure its freedom. Abromavicius resignation lays bare the absence of fundamental reforms.
38. Interfax-Ukraine: Yatseniuk proposes to reset Ukrainian administration.
39. Consortiumnews.com: Gilbert Doctorow, A Look at Ukraine’s Dark Side.
40. New York Times: Ukrainian Ex-Premier’s Visit to Washington Highlights Obstacles Facing Peace Pact. (Yulia Tymoshenko)
41. Reuters: Dutch ‘No’ on Ukraine Pact Would Force Rethink, Minister Says.
42. Bloomberg: Ukraine Bond Rout Worsens on Bets Political Tussle to Block Aid.
43. Oakland Institute: The Future of Ukrainian Small Farmers under Threat under the IMF Mandate.
44. The Motley Fool: Ukraine’s Biggest Plane Maker Shuts Down — and Boeing and Lockheed Breathe a Sigh of Relief. The Antonov Aviation Company is no more.
45. Kyiv Post: SBU claims finding firearms used against EuroMaidan activists.
46. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, SBU techniques.
47. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Maidan shootings.
48. Washington Post editorial: Is Mr. Putin serious about making peace in Ukraine?
49. The Wilson Quarterly: Robert Thurston, UKRAINE AND THE LETHAL HAND OF HISTORY. Whatever the ambitions of Putin, his interference in Ukraine would have come to little without the country’s charged history of internal division.

 

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

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