RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2019-#14 :: Wednesday, 23 January 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#14 :: Wednesday, 23 January 2019
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or The George Washington University.
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1. TASS: Russia climbs to 24th spot in world’s best countries ranking.
2. Intellinews.com: Russia drops two places on Bloomberg innovation ranking.
3. Intellinews.com: Russia becomes Europe’s largest internet market.
4. Bear Market Brief: Volodin proposes expansion of Duma powers.
5. Bear Market Brief: Government looks to reform apparatus.
6. www.zerohedge.com: Russia To Overtake Germany As World’s Fifth-Largest Economy.
7. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, New Russian order: After presidency, yet another role for Putin? Russia faces a looming question: What follows Putin’s current, likely final presidential term? An answer is beginning to take shape – and may involve a new position for Putin and a reshaped political landscape.
8. Vedomosti: Pundit review of film on Putin blames those who implement his policy. (Andrei Kolesnikov)
9. Paul Goble: Russian Political Opposition, Russian Popular Protests Seldom Coalesce.
10. Russia in Global Affairs: Andrey Sushentsov and Maksim Suchkov, The Nature of the Modern Crisis in U.S.-Russia Relations. How to Break the U.S.-Russia Stalemate. (excerpt)
11. Moscow Times: Ben Aris, Sleeves Up at This Year’s Gaidar Forum.
12. www.rt.com: Western sanctions not key factor in why Russia looks East to Asia.
13. Reuters: Russia says oil price war with U.S. would be too costly.
14. The Hill: Nigel Gould-Davies, Russia sanctions: Myths and lessons.
15. CNBC.com: Sanctions on Moscow hurt the US long term, Russia’s wealth fund head says.
16. AP: Doping agency forgives Russia, but says more work needed.
17. Wall Street Journal: As U.S. Nuclear Pact Hangs in the Balance, Russia Makes Last-Gasp Bid to Keep It Alive. Russia exhibits missile hardware amid U.S. accusations that it is in violation of a treaty signed in 1987.
18. www.rt.com: Russia unveils evidence on missile that US claims violates INF Treaty, Washington snubs briefing.
19. TASS: How the Kuril Islands dispute arose, and the story behind Russian-Japanese peace efforts.
20. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, The Kuril Social Contract. The Kremlin needs to understand clearly that it is up against not just Japan but also the Russian public – and based on public opinion surveys, two-thirds of Russians do not want to hand over the Kuril Islands. The Kremlin will not be able to coerce the people into accepting its point of view.
21. Valdai Discussion Club: Ekaterina Entina, Russia in the Balkans: The Shadow of Strategic Rivalry.
22. The National Interest: Gordon Bardos, Why America Is Blind to Serbia’s Bright Future. Belgrade offers many opportunities that the Washington foreign-policy establishment appears unwilling to recognize.
23. New York Times: Michael Khodarkovsky, Putin’s Dream of Godliness: Holy Russia. When the Ukrainian Orthodox Church broke from Russia’s, it dealt a blow to President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to portray his country as one people with a single identity.
24. Foreignpolicy.com: Lev Golinkin, Black Is the New Orange. With Soviet-style illiberalism on the rise, what is there to celebrate on the five-year anniversary of Ukraine’s Maidan uprising?
25. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Tymoshenko, Boiko throw their hats into Ukraine’s presidential election ring.
26. Russia Beyond: Horrors of Stalin’s 1930s through the eyes of 3 Americans.[rbth.com/history/329880-horrors-of-stalins-1930s-3-americans]
27. www.rt.com: ‘He doesn’t bother anybody. Let him stay’: MPs reject idea of removing Lenin’s body from mausoleum. [rt.com/news/449452-paul-whelan-russia-cathedral-spies/]
28. www.rt.com: Spike in ‘cathedral tourism’ thanks to cultural pursuits of ‘spies’? Twitter notices a pattern.
29. TASS: New characters in Skripal saga complicate picture, says Russian diplomat.
30. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, WILTSHIRE CORONER CANNOT RULE NOVICHOK AS CAUSE OF DEATH – THERESA MAY’S SKRIPAL STORY FAILS BOTTLE TEST. (excerpt)
[johnhelmer.net/wiltshire-coroner-cannot-rule-novichok-as-cause-of-death-theresa-mays-skripal-story-fails-bottle-test/]
31. Washington Post editorial: Trump’s lies on his business dealings in Russia were a profound betrayal of voters. One thing is clear: In 2016, Donald Trump was out to make money in Russia even as he told the American people he wasn’t.
32. Facebook: Fred Weir, “5 Times the Trump Administration Has Been Tougher Than Trump on Russia”
33. Salon.com: What happens if Putin wins? Michael McFaul on “the end of the liberal international order.” Salon speaks with Michael McFaul, former US ambassador to Russia and a man that Vladimir Putin wants to interrogate
34. www.rt.com: Darius Shahtahmasebi, Trump is a ‘Russian stooge’ – yet he is preparing for a space-war with Russia. [rt.com/op-ed/449501-us-space-war-russia-china/]
35. The Intercept: Glenn Greenwald, Beyond BuzzFeed: The 10 Worst, Most Embarrassing U.S. Media Failures on the Trump-Russia Story. (excerpt)
36. The Hill: John Solomon, How the Clinton machine flooded the FBI with Trump-Russia dirt…until agents bit.