RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-30 :: Thursday, 11 February 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#30
Thursday, 11 February 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
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RUSSIA

1. Newsweek.com: Diane Francis, PUTIN IS ON THE ROPES-THAT’S NO TIME TO GIVE GROUND.
2. Moscow Times: Snap Elections Wouldn’t Change Russian Ruling Structure – Poll.
3. www.rt.com: Kremlin spokesman refutes allegations of planned internet control.
4. Interfax: Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis agree upon joint declaration.
5. Russia Direct: Andrei Zolotov Jr., The Russian Orthodox Church looks for a paradigm shift in Havana. In Cuba this week, Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill will meet to build bridges between Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches. So why now?
6. The Guardian: Mary Dejevsky, The Pentagon has fired the first shot in a new arms race. The US is ramping up military spending to counter ‘Russian aggression’ – but what does that mean for Europe?
7. Izvestia: Russian rights activist comments on proposed amendments to electoral law. (Ilya Shablinskiy)
8. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Economy Is Bad. Russia’s Economy Will Not Collapse.
9. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, MOSCOW BLOG: Mortgages vs. pensions and blasts from the past.
10. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, ‘No One Spending Money’ In Russia As Business Confidence Falls Again.
11. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Analyst looks at likely effect of falling oil prices on Russian economy. (Mikhail Krutikhin)
12. Moscow Times: Moscow’s Overnight Demolition Blitz Sparks Legal Debate.
13. Moscow Times: Michele Berdy, Moscow Demolition: A Primer in Russian Propaganda.
14. Interfax: Casualties of law enforcement agencies reduce threefold in North Caucasus in 2015 – Interior Ministry.
15. Wall Street Journal: Muslims in Russia See Putin’s Antiterrorism Efforts at Home as Backfiring. North Caucasus residents say crackdown often leads to new recruits for Islamic State.
16. Valdai Discussion Club: Mary Dejevsky, VALDAI CLUB REPORT – IN SEARCH OF A NEW WORLD ORDER.
17. www.rt.com: 5 best times Russian diplomacy worked.
18. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Through a diplomat’s eyes: Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in 7 quotes.
19. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, published on February 10, 2016.
20. Russia Beyond the Headlines: U.S. to spend $4.3 billion on ‘countering Russian aggression’
21. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Putin ups the stakes in Syria as he gets backed into a political corner.
22. Reuters: Russia, pressed to end Syria bombing, proposes March truce.
23. www.rt.com: US A-10s bombed city of Aleppo on Wednesday, shifted blame onto Moscow – Russian military.
24. Wall Street Journal: Russian Air Campaign in Syria to Dominate Munich Talks. Top defense officials also meeting in Brussels to assess anti-Islamic State campaign.
25. Valdai Discussion Club: Alexander Aksenyonok, IS THERE A CHANCE TO STOP THE SYRIAN DISASTER?
26. Andrei Liakhov: AFGHANISTAN TO SYRIA – the Russian game.
27. Russia Direct: Volkan Ozdemir, Russia and Turkey, on the slippery slope to direct confrontation. Given the divergence between Russian and Turkish interests in Syria, the odds of increasing tensions between Turkey and Russia leading to a military confrontation are becoming higher.
28. Huffingtonpost.com: Alastair Crooke, The Syria War Will Not Be a Quagmire — Because Putin and Assad Are Winning.
29. New York Times: Russian Intervention in Syrian War Has Sharply Reduced U.S. Options.
30. Russia Insider: Danielle Ryan, Fukuyama’s Vague Criticism of ‘Putinism’ Distracts from Failures of Liberal Democracy. “… not your typical proponent of American exceptionalism, but his views, however muddled they at times may seem, are hardly any less problematic.”
31. www.politico.eu: Carl Bildt, 3 ways to stop ‘revisionist, militaristic’ Russia. A chance for a different kind of Munich pact this week.
32. Reuters: NATO agrees Russian deterrent but avoids Cold War footing.
33. Washington Post: Stephen Crowley and Irina Olimpieva, Is Putin about to face a ‘colored revolution’?
34. RFE/RL: News Analysis: Putin Pulls Levers As Russian Patriarch, PM Head Abroad.
35. Wall Street Journal: Weak Oil Prices Fuel Ukrainian Hopes of a More Conciliatory Russia. Officials in Kiev point to recent diplomatic moves as a signal Kremlin may be more serious about fulfilling peace deal.
36. www.awarablogs.com: Jon Hellevig, Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent – Or, the topics that disappeared from the anti-Russian narrative.