RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2019-#19 :: Monday, 11 February 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#19 :: Monday, 11 February 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. Russia Beyond: Is Russia a religious or a secular state? [rbth.com/lifestyle/329962-russia-religious-or-secular]
2. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, THREE RUSSIAS.
3. TASS: Kremlin spokesman lauds Putin for tackling pension reform debate with political courage
4. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Putin Again.[unz.com/akarlin/how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-putin-again/]
5. The Guardian (UK): Mark Galeotti: ‘We should laugh at Russia more.’ The Russian politics expert on why the west misreads Putin, Trump’s election, the Skripals and why he loathes Game of Thrones.
6. Intellinews.com: Moody’s raises Russia’s rating to investment grade.
7. www.rt.com: Ruble flexes its muscle after Moody’s lifts Russia’s rating to investment grade.
8. The Bell: Why is the Russian economy growing despite Western sanctions?
9. TASS: Putin’s ‘Great Society’ program: Russian government outlines 12 major National Projects.
10. Bear Market Brief: National projects will cost 26 trillion rubles.
[entire archived e-mail newsletter containing this article: mailchi.mp/c60788527493/the-skew-deal?e=b96dba38fd]
11. TASS: Russia embarks on cleaning up nation’s eight most polluted cities by 2024.
12. Paul Goble: Rosstat Can’t be Trusted Until It Becomes Independent, ‘Nezavisimaya gazeta’ Says.
13. Sputnik: Putin Reveals What the Goals of Russian Diplomacy Are.
14. Asia Times: Alexander Kruglov, Gas, guns and pragmatism: Putin’s foreign policy. Russia is going head-to-head with the West as it pursues Eurasian integration and expands its footprint globally.
15. The National Interest: Chas Goldman, The Kremlin’s Key to World Dominance: Climate Change. Imagine the advantages that Russia could reap from the political and economic instability caused by climate change and a global refugee crisis.
16. Reuters: For Putin, economic and political reality dampen appetite for arms race.
17. Carnegie Moscow Center: Vladimir Dvorkin, Preserving Strategic Stability Amid U.S.-Russian Confrontation. (excerpt)
18. Russia Matters: As Russia and US Give Up on INF, ‘New Cold War or Not’ Debate Flares Again. (excerpt)
19. Moscow Times: Dmitoy Stefanovich, The INF Treaty Has Been Nixed. What’s Next? Both sides are planning new missile systems after historic pullout from arms treaty.
20. www.rt.com: INF Treaty is about European security, not American; US left it to get new missiles – Russian envoy. [rt.com/news/451151-inf-us-europe-russian-ambassador/]
21. New York Times editorial: No Winner in a New Arms Race. Are the United States and Russia entering a dangerous new era of unchecked nuclear weapons development?
22. Strategic Culture Foundation: Edward Lozansky, How to Find Something Positive in the Sea of Negativity.
23. Russian International Affairs Council: Ivan Timofeev, The Sanctions Will Grow in Size and Intensity. [russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/the-sanctions-will-grow-in-size-and-intensity/]
24. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, It Looks Like The U.S. Really Does Want To Isolate Russia And China.
25. The National Interest: Lyle Goldstein, The Second Caribbean Crisis? A Russian defense analyst conjures a U.S. military intervention scenario in Venezuela. It is not a pretty picture.
26. TASS: Kommersant: Moscow’s Afghan talks satisfy US, but anger Kabul.
27. www.rt.com: US envoy admits ‘positive’ Russian role in Afghan peace process as generals bemoan ‘lost’ war.
28. Ellen Mickiewicz: Branding: The low-cost, low-yield challenge to analysis.
29. Intellinews.com: Comic Zelenskiy leads record number of candidates for the Ukrainian presidency.
30. Counterpunch.org: Halyna Mokrushyna, The ‘Peacekeeper’ Vigilante Website and Freedom of Speech in Ukraine
31. The New Republic: James Bamford, The Spy Who Wasn’t. The U.S. government went looking for someone to blame for Russia’s interference in the 2016 election-and found Maria Butina, the perfect scapegoat.
32. ABCNews.com: Alleged Russian agent Maria Butina in her own words: ‘Truth is my best defender.’ Journalist James Bamford shared recorded conversations with Maria Butina.
33. Raw Story: [McFaul:] Putin is happy that Trump is weakening the United States – and it was all part of his ‘strategic’ plan: ex-ambassador. (Michael McFaul)
34. The Hill: John Solomon, The case for Russia collusion … against the Democrats.