RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-169 :: Monday, 4 September 2017

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#169
Monday, 4 September 2017

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1. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Top 7 ‘eternal’ Russian questions. Like all nations, Russians are plagued by rather specific questions. Despite their apparent simplicity, no generation has been able to solve these questions. One can languish over them sitting on a windowsill in a blanket or during a meeting in Parliament. Who is just a tiny creature, who is right, how much should one vacation and what about…shaving cream? RBTH selects the most important issues.
2. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, SOME FUN ON RUSSIAN TV.
3. Kremlin.ru: National open lesson Russia Focused on the Future.
4. www.rt.com: Most Russians dislike the idea of moving to the capital, Moscow – poll.
5. Vedomosti: Pro-Kremlin pundits view opposition governors’ chances in election.
6. Interfax: Serebrennikov says has no way of hiding abroad.
7. Institute of Modern Russia: Russian Intelligentsia, Loyal Experts, Putin’s Court. (excerpt)
8. Financial Times: Russian agriculture thrives as sanctions close off imports. Farms and other suppliers flourish as consumers turn to homegrown products.
9. Wall Street Journal: Frigid, Industrial Siberia: Primed for the Digital Era. Oleg Deripaska’s En+ harnesses Soviet-era infrastructure in frigid region to launch data-storage project.
10. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia Opens First Criminal Case Involving Bitcoin.
12. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Top 5 most scandalous Russian movies. Foreign critics shower these pictures with awards, whereas nobody believes a word at home. Such occasions happen regularly to the movies of the most famous directors. Offending nostalgic memories of the Soviet Union, a “deceitful biopic” about the last tsar, boozy Russians and dirty monologues are just a few of the reasons why movies attract opprobrium.
13. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions at a meeting with the students and faculty of MGIMO University and the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Moscow, September 1, 2017.
14. Kremlin.ru: BRICS Summit.
15. Russia International Affairs Council: Georgy Toloraya and Valeriya Gorbacheva. BRICS: Will the Future be Brighter?
16. TASS: RBC: Experts foresee surge of Chinese investments into Russia.
17. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russian-US diplomatic property spat shows no signs of abating.
18. www.rt.com: Moscow will retaliate over consulate row, but not like deviant hooligan America – Russian deputy FM.
19. TASS: US tells Russia it expects diplomatic property sold to it – Foreign Ministry.
20. Moscow Times: James Schumaker, The U.S.-Russian Diplomatic Dance: Is It Too Late to Stop the Music?
21. Sputnik: Consulate Search Scandal: ‘FBI Was Looking for Putin, Hackers, & Russian Bears’
22. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Washington is looking for an escalation in diplomatic standoff with Russia.
23. Asia Times: M K Bhadrakumar, US crassness in Russia spat goes back to Snowden humiliation. The US security establishment appears to be operating in score-settling mode, as evidenced by its seizure of Russian diplomatic facilities.
24. Wall Street Journal: Post-Soviet Pacts Spawned U.S. Reliance on Russian Rocket Engines. Efforts to block spread of space technology to hostile nations fostered long-lasting deals.
25. Wall Street Journal: Pentagon Faces Delays in Shift Away From Russian Rocket Engines. U.S. rocket makers’ challenges leave Air Force stuck using RD-180 engines years longer than planned.
26. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Travel Barriers Are the Worst of the New Cold War. Why is the U.S. squandering its soft-power advantage on petty tit-for-tat?
27. CNBC.com: US sanctions are more harmful to Europe than Russia, top Russian lawmaker says. (Arkady Dvorkovich)
28. www.rt.com: US sanctions against Russia could backfire on American energy firms.
29. European Leadership Network: Alexander Vershbow, The target of new US sanctions is Russia, not Europe.
30. Facebook: Eric Kraus, I cautiously welcome the deterioration of relations between Moscow and Washington.
31. Moskovsky Komsomolets: NATO scares Baltic states with Zapad drill, Russian daily says.
32. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, Russia-gate’s Totalitarian Style. The New York Times is at it again, reporting unproven allegations about Russia as flat fact, while anyone who questions the Russia-gate groupthink faces ugly attacks.
33. The Nation: A Leak or a Hack? A Forum on the VIPS Memo. A letter from dissenting members of VIPS, a reply from VIPS, and the results of our independent review.
34. Moon of Alabama: No “Russian Hacking” In Durham Election – NY Times Report Belies Its Headline.
35. The Cipher Brief: Daniel Hoffman, Putin’s Long War against Russian Democracy.
36. Newsweek.com: Andrei Kovalev, PUTIN’S HAND CAN CLEARLY BE SEEN IN THE CHAOS OF A DESTABILIZED WEST.
37. Wall Street Journal: Max Boot, The Cold War’s Tragic Hero. A definitive biography shows a Soviet leader changing his mind. Max Boot reviews ‘Gorbachev’ by William Taubman.

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