RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-43 :: Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#43
Wednesday, 2 March 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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1. www.foreignaffairs.com: Rajan Menon, Putin’s Rational Choices. There Is More to His Strategy Than Western Weakness.
2. RFE/RL: Russia, Syria Said Using Migrant Crisis As ‘Weapon’ Against West. (General Breedlove)
3. Reuters: Ukraine bans officials from criticizing government.
4. TASS: End of Cold War, democratic freedoms main achievements of last Soviet leader – poll.
5. www.rt.com: Gorbachev turns 85: Russians still split over former leader’s role in history, poll shows.
6. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Gorbachev: Russia’s savior, or a symbol of the country’s collapse? On March 2, Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR and the man who began perestroika in the Soviet Union, turns 85. RBTH presents a selection of quotes about the Soviet leader by his contemporaries.
7. www.rt.com: Moscow child beheading pushes activists to seek more restrictions on mass media.
8. Russia Insider: Ricky Twisdale, ‘The Moscow Times’ Is Outraged the Kremlin Won’t Glorify Child Murder. Because not broadcasting a child’s severed head on national TV is clearly just one more example of the terrible censorship of Putin’s regime.
9. TASS: Russia’s unemployment stands at 4.4 mln people.
10. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Russia’s Economy: Actually Import Substitution IS Happening. Articles in Forbes claiming that import substitution is not happening show a superficial understanding of industrial processes and of the Russian economy.
11. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrey Movchan, Predicting Russia’s Economic Health.
12. Reuters: Putin says Russian oil producers agreed to freeze output in 2016.
13. Asia Times: Sergei Blagov, Russia eyes new Arctic shipping route for trade with China.
14. Interfax: Number of inspections of NGOs declining – Justice Minister.
15. Gazeta.ru: Russian analysts view Chechen leader’s future.
16. Russia Direct: What Russian experts think about peace breaking out in Syria. RD Think Tanks Review: In February, Russia’s top experts discussed war and peace in Syria, the historic meeting between the Pope and Patriarch in Cuba, and new elections in Iran.
17. Russia Direct: What needs to happen for the Syrian ceasefire to work. RD Interview: Prominent Middle East expert Irina Zvyagelskaya discusses the new Syria ceasefire agreement, highlighting what needs to happen for the agreement to lead to a lasting settlement of the conflict.
18. www.project-syndicate.org: Jeffrey Sachs, Ending the Syrian War.
19. Salon.com: Patrick Smith, The real story about Syria and Libya: Behind a new agreement with Moscow, and the insidious way the New York Times protects Hillary. A new accord with Moscow on Syria clears up little. And a new Times series on Clinton and Libya has a messy agenda.
20. The National Interest: Michael Reynolds, Vladimir Putin, Godfather of Kurdistan? Kurdish ambitions fit into Russia’s plans for the Middle East.
21. Valdai Discussion Club: Ivan Timofeev, RUSSIA AND THE WEST: RECALLING THE COLD WAR.
22. Reuters: U.S. Needs More Resources in Europe to Counter Russia-NATO Commander.
23. German Marshall Fund: Angela Stent, Moscow, Washington, and Damascus: Is Cooperation Really Possible?
25. Russia Direct: Sergey Markedonov, Two years after Crimea’s takeover, no signs of reconciliation. With the second anniversary of Crimea’s incorporation into the Russian Federation, neither Moscow nor Kiev can agree on what needs to happen next, and this is not a good sign.