RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-22 :: Friday, 27 January 2017

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#22
Friday, 27 January 2017
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1. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia’s decriminalization of domestic abuse: a sign of conservatives’ influence?. Women’s rights advocates say move leaves women underprotected from abusive spouses. But it also signals the growing political clout of the Russian Orthodox Church and other conservative political actors.
2. Russia Insider: Mark Nicholas, Russia Is Legalizing Domestic Violence — Says the Lying Fakestream Media So It Must Be True/ Here’s the real story — Russians want less state (and theirs often isn’t the greatest) in their families.
3. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, PSYCHOLOGY BECOMES LAW – OR IS IT BIBLE BASHING? OR ANOTHER CASE OF THE RUSSIAN BEAST?
4. The Economist: Putin’s family values. Why Russia is about to decriminalise wife-beating. It fits with traditional values, lawmakers say.
5. www.rt.com: Trumped by Brexit: Russians put UK’s EU exit vote ahead of US elections in list of key 2016 events.
6. Russia Direct: Can Russia’s economy finally turn the corner in 2017? RD Interview: Kendrick White of Marchmont Capital Partners discusses the potential obstacles ahead for Russia’s economic growth, including factors that might weaken global energy prices
7. Reuters: Prospects brighten for Russian steelmakers as economy improves.
8. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Gazeta.ru: Why did the Russian chicken cross the border? While Russia has for years exported wheat and other grains, the country still imports many basic foodstuffs. 2017 might be the year, however, that Russia becomes an overall net exporter of agricultural products. This development is a positive side-effect of economic sanctions, which have spurred domestic production.
9. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Russia may benefit from Trans-Pacific Partnership collapse. One of Donald Trump’s first decisions as U.S. president was to pullout from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement. This gives Russia and China a chance to jumpstart talks on setting up free trade areas with Asian partners.
10. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Gulf states should be involved in Syria peace process – Russian expert. (Fyodor Lukyanov)
11. www.rt.com: Power split & minority rights among cornerstones of Russia-proposed Syrian Constitution – leaked doc.
12. BBC Monitoring: Russian press discusses obstacles to Syria settlement.
13. Bloomberg: Israeli Envoy Praises Russian Efforts to Reconcile Palestinians.
14. Wall Street Journal: Challenging the U.S., Moscow Pushes Into Afghanistan. Russian inroads complicate U.S. efforts to strengthen the government, stamp out the Taliban and end America’s longest war.
15. TASS: US provides little information on alleged cyberattacks – Russian diplomat.
16. Bloomberg: Easing Russia Sanctions ‘Under Consideration’
17. TASS: Kremlin unveils plans for upcoming Putin-Trump phone talks.
18. Interfax: Meeting between Putin, Russian Security Council members involved exchange of opinions on current state of Russian-U.S. relations – Peskov.re
19. Washington Post: David Filipov, Trump’s Kremlin call will be first test for better ties with Putin’s Russia.
20. Washington Times: Evgeny Lebedev, Thawing the permafrost with Russia. There are good reasons to work with Vladimir Putin against a shared threat.
21. Moscow Times: Putin and Trump Want to Team Up, but That’s Not Going to Be Easy.
22. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, Incessant Kremlin-Baiting of President Trump Is a Threat to US National Security. Allegations that the president is a “puppet of Putin” could prevent him from making decisions in America’s best interests.
23. The National Interest: Jeffrey H. Smith and Kenneth Yalowitz, How Donald Trump Can Work with Russia and Not Give Away the House. Trump should look at the world carefully before stirring the pot.
24. New York Times: Douglas Smith, The Exorcist of Russia. (Nikita Mikhalkov)
25. Time.com: Mikhail Gorbachev: ‘It All Looks as if the World Is Preparing for War’
26. Kyiv Post: Ukrainian forces creep into war’s gray zone.