Date: Sun, 24 Feb 2013 From: Robert Bridge <robertvbridge@yahoo.com> Subject: New book “Midnight in the American Empire” I have just published a book entitled, “Midnight in the American Empire,” which deals with the United States in the post-Soviet era. Much of the book deals with US corporate power, but there is a section devoted to Russia, which I think would […]
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(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – February 28, 2013) Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal, an authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments – http://eng.globalaffairs.ru/ Russia’s much-anticipated Foreign Policy Concept has finally been released. And while the latest version does not contain anything revolutionary, it does provide insight into how Russia’s […]
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(RFE/RL -– rferl.org – Robert Coalson – March 1, 2013) Eighty-one-year-old Nikolai Khasig was born in Sukhumi in 1932. It was just one year after Soviet dictator Josef Stalin stripped Abkhazia of its short-lived status as a full-fledged republic of the USSR and made it a region of Soviet Georgia. At the end of 1936, Lavrenty Beria — at that […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 28, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-from-upper-volta-with.html) Twenty-five years ago, German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt characterized the Soviet Union as being an “Upper Volta with missiles.” Now, Russian analysts, in response to findings of a Swiss firm, have suggested that a better analogy might be between the Russian Federation and a “Nigeria with snow.” The […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 39 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Sergei Blagov – March 1, 2013) The Russian government pledged to manage $3.3 trillion worth of its state-controlled assets more efficiently, including through the continued privatization of state-owned companies. However, the authorities have to prove that the latest privatization efforts could fare better than earlier attempts to […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, March 1, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/03/window-on-eurasia-five-new-statistics.html) Five new statistics about Russia this past week one about Muslims in the army, a second about the state of its roads, a third about the number of illegal migrants in the country, a fourth about Russian attitudes toward religious instruction in the schools, and a […]
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(Governent.ru – February 26, 2013) Correspondent (via interpreter): Mr Prime Minister, thank you very much for finding time for Globo in your schedule. In your recent article in the influential Financial Times, you wrote that Russia should look to the East, to the Asia-Pacific Region. How, looking East, did you wind up in Brazil? Did you follow Columbus who set […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) – Some 47% of Russians believe that President Vladimir Putin can keep the election promises, the Levada Center told Interfax after having polled respondents in 130 towns and cities in 45 regions this February. A third (34%) doubted that and 17% were hesitant, the sociologists said. In the opinion of 65%, President Putin has done more […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax) – Russians are losing interest in science, Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VTsIOM) told Interfax. It polled 1,600 respondents in 138 towns and cities in 46 regions on February 2-3. Only 47% show interest in the latest scientific achievements and technologies. The indicator stood at 68% in 2007, the center said. The number of people who […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#40 :: 27 February 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Der Spiegel: Mikhail’s Milieu. Gorbachev Memoir Shows World of Love and Deceit. 2. www.russiatoday.com: Russia to become developed state in 7 years – report. 3. Moscow Times: Samuel Greene, The Question Isn’t Who […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Dmitry Babich, special to RBTH – February 26, 2013) Dmitry Babich is a political analyst for the Voice of Russia radio station. Just about everyone is scolding Britain for being dismissive of the European Union with the notable exception of Russia. Strange as it may seem, both Russia and Great Britain, without […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Ekaterina Zabrovskaya, Nikolay Surkov, RBTH – February 27, 2013) Moscow sees U.S. objection to a U.N. statement condemning the recent terrorist attack in Syria as a double standard. The discussion of a U.N. Security Council statement condemning the latest terrorist attack in Damascus, that killed 53, has engendered yet another upsurge in Moscow’s […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Natalya Krainova – February 27, 2013) Gennady Zyuganov, re-elected Saturday as leader of the Communist Party, a position he’s held for 17 years, said Tuesday that public calls to remove Stalin’s and Brezhnev’s graves from the Kremlin Wall Necropolis came from “provocateurs” and “SS loyalists.” He vowed that his party would continue to fight proposals […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 26, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-xenophobic-attitudes.html) Xenophobic attitudes are now to be found among communist, nationalist, liberal and pro-Kremlin parties and groups, according to Moscow’s leading specialist on inter-ethnic relations, a development that reflects the efforts of these organizations to tap into popular attitudes and win votes. Such outreach programs are not likely […]
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(opendemocracy.net – Michael Cecire – February 25, 2013) Michael Hikari Cecire is a Black Sea-Eurasia regional analyst and an associate scholar at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, where he contributes to the Project on Democratic Transitions. China’s steadily growing economic expansion throughout the world is a cause of concern for many governments. Eastern Europe and Central Eurasia are no longer […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 26 (Interfax) – The development of nonconventional reserves of oil and gas in Russia in the next decade holds more promise than the Arctic, Gazprom Neft (RTS: SIBN) first deputy CEO Vadim Yakovlev told reporters. He said nontraditional reserves will be developed before the Arctic. “They are no less important than Arctic reserves, but are now the priority […]
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(Interfax – February 27, 2013) The Russian Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will carry out an analysis and geological study of resources and reserves in non-traditional gas deposits, including shale gas. There is a lot of focus on extraction of shale oil and gas in the mineral material base preservation program, which was drafted by the Natural Resources Ministry. The […]
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(Institute of Modern Russia – www.imrussia.org – Tatiana Stanovaya – February 25, 2013 – click here for original posting of article) Two important tendencies have marked Russian political life during the past few months. The first is the Kremlin’s attempt to control officials’ and lawmakers’ foreign accounts and real estate holdings. The second is the growing activity of independent bloggers […]
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NOVO-OGARYOVO (Moscow region). Feb 27 (Interfax) – Labor Minister Maxim Topilin said Russia’s population could increase to 150 million people instead of the projected 145 million in 2020-2025. “According to our calculations, we can exceed the projected figure of 145 million by 2020-2025, reaching 147 million people, or, according to optimistic predictions, even 150 million people,” Topilin said at the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 27, 2013) Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry, held their first face-to-face meeting in Berlin late Tuesday, initiating a diplomatic relationship expected to be stronger than that between Lavrov and Kerry’s predecessor, Hillary Clinton. The two top diplomats were expected to discuss the ongoing […]
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BERLIN, February 26 (RIA Novosti) The United States and Russia will do “everything possible” to facilitate a dialogue between the Syrian government and the armed opposition, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday in Berlin following his first bilateral meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry. “No one will solve the Syrians’ problems for them, but in order for […]
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BERLIN. Feb 27 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied media reports alleging that Russia and the U.S. are preparing to exchange declarations on cooperation on missile defense and on guarantees that it will not be directed against Russia’s interests. “I have read these reports and talked with their authors. I don’t know the author’s sources, but there […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 26, 2013) President Vladimir Putin said last week that returning a Jewish book collection confiscated after the Bolshevik Revolution was impossible because it would open a “Pandora’s box” of claims on such property. “[If Russia] starts satisfying these sorts of claims, there would be no end to them and no telling […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – February 26, 2013) Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday accused the European Union of employing a double standard when it agreed to allow nondiplomatic Ukrainian officials to enter member states without a visa. “A Ukrainian bureaucrat is no different from a Russian one,” he told students at Moscow’s Diplomatic Academy. Russian and […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Anna Arutunyan – February 25, 2013) Anna Arutunyan is the politics editor of The Moscow News A story needs a beginning and end, but what has become the main narrative of Russia’s current political era doesn’t seem to have either. And the weak are meat the strong do eat, as David Mitchell coined in his […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 25, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-putin-system.html) The Russian Federation is “again entering a period of radical changes when entirely different and still unknown forces and figures” will replace those that President Vladimir Putin has assembled around him, according to Valery Solovey, an MGIMO professor who heads the New Force Party. In an interview […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – February 26, 2013) The Justice Ministry has refused to conduct a check into election watchdog Golos’ compliance with recently passed legislation requiring foreign-funded organizations to register as “foreign agents” despite over 100 requests to do so. The ministry received 120 requests to recognize Golos as a foreign agent, and 350 such requests for the Levada […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – February 26, 2013) Oleg Smolin, a State Duma deputy with the Communist Party, praised a law that entered into force Monday and requires companies to hire disabled people or face fines of up to 10,000 rubles ($330). “We supported this legislation because it looks like a first step forward,” Smolin, who is […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Svetlana Smetanina, special to RBTH – February 26, 2013) A new law on education soon to be passed in Russia will allow parents of children with special needs to demand that their children be educated in regular state schools. Moscow Technological High School 1540 has been teaching children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Aleksandras Budrys – February 26, 2013) One-third of Russians still believe that President Vladimir Putin is the best choice for the post as head of state, although his rating continues to fall steadily, a survey conducted by independent agency Levada Center showed on Tuesday. The poll, conducted on February 15 to February 18, surveyed 1,600 […]
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WASHINGTON, February 25 (By Sasha Horne for RIA Novosti) The Kremlin has moved aggressively in recent months to stifle US influence on its domestic politics, but America’s fast-food footprint continues to grow across Russia’s nine time zones. Iconic US eatery McDonald’s has announced it could widen its presence from Russia’s western exclave of Kaliningrad to eastern Siberia in a […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Alexander Yakovenko, special to RBTH – February 26, 2013) Alexander Yakovenko is Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Kingdom. He was previously Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The first meeting of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors under Russia’s G20 presidency was held in Moscow […]
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MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) Every tenth Russian company making settlements through the Central Bank’s payment system dodged tax payments in 2012, according to data posted on the regulator’s website on Tuesday. Central Bank figures show 242,000 companies or about 11 percent of the 2.2 million businesses surveyed by the regulator made zero tax payments last year, despite conducting […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle – February 26, 2013) Investigators have opened a murder case into the death of a 9-year-old Russian boy in the care of U.S. parents, the Investigative Committee said in an online statement late Monday. Anton Fomin died of smoke inhalation in a fire at his house in the state of Nebraska in May […]
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MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) Russian diplomatic sources expressed optimism a breakthrough will finally be reached in missile defense negotiations at the foreign ministers’ talks in Berlin on Tuesday, although their US counterparts were playing down the meeting and said they expect no “major” breakthroughs. Russia’s Kommersant newspaper, citing diplomatic sources on both sides, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei […]
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(Oilprice.com – Felix Imonti – February 25, 2013) Russia is back. President Vladimir Putin wants the world to acknowledge that Russia remains a global power. He is making his stand in Syria. The Soviet Union acquired the Tardus Naval Port in Syria in 1971 without any real purpose for it. With their ships welcomed in Algeria, Cuba or Vietnam, Tardus […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – February 25, 2013 – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH) With Russia’s weapons industry booming, state-owned Rosoboronexport received more than double the number of foreign enquiries for arms sales in 2012 than it did in 2011. Rosoboronexport director general Anatoly Isaykin tells journalists about India as its biggest client, Latin America as its priority […]
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(International Relations and Security Network (ISN) – www.isn.ethz.ch – Aglaya Snetkov for the ISN – February 25, 2013) Aglaya Snetkov is a senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS). Despite the attempts by Western powers to penetrate the Caucasus, Russia continues to exert unmatched influence over the region. In today’s Questions and Answers presentation, the CSS’ Aglaya Snetkov […]
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Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#39 :: 26 February 2013 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net JRL homepage: www.russialist.org JRL on Facebook: www.facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: www.twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: http://russialist.org/funding.php POLITICS 1. Moscow News: Putin still seen best for presidency, though rating falls. 2. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Russians prefer Shoigu to Medvedev. 3. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Did Russia’s Infant Mortality Rate Just Skyrocket? 4. […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Yuri Paniyev, special to RBTH – February 23, 2013) BRICS leaders plan to discuss the creation of a new development bank and a “virtual secretariat” at the upcoming summit in South Africa. At the fifth BRICS summit — the first to be held on the African continent — the leaders of […]
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MOSCOW, February 25 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow reiterated its position on the normalization of ties with Tbilisi on Monday, saying it was not ready to discuss the issue of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, despite a move toward improved relations between the two sides. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin reiterated Russia’s interest in normalizing its ties […]
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MOSCOW, February 25 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow’s position on Syria stems from its concern for the Syrian people, and not the fate of President Bashar al-Assad, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday. “Russia’s position is not predetermined by support of personalities; it is dictated by concern about the fate of the Syrian people, our long-standing friend and partner, and […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, February 22, 2013 – http://windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2013/02/window-on-eurasia-west-vastly.html) A report by the Washington Center for International Policy’s Global Financial Integrity program suggests that illegal capital flight from the Russian Federation over the last 17 years has been “stupifyingly” large, but in fact, a Russian economic analyst says, the report’s figures understate the size and implications […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Scott Rose & Olga Tanas – February 26, 2012) Russian unemployment fell to a record low of 5 percent in August and September last year, less than the initially reported 5.2 percent, revised data released by the Federal Statistics Service show. Last month’s reading of 6 percent was unchanged, the Moscow-based service said in a report […]
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(Interfax – February 25, 2013) Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that in order to develop the Russian economy it is necessary to increase the share of revenues from high-tech sectors and raise the standard of living in the country. Developing high-tech sectors “There are a number of challenges in the Russian economy to which we have not yet responded. First […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Natalia Antonova – February 25, 2013) Here is a solution on how to deal with Russia’s archaic registration system: don’t tie registration to real estate ownership. If registration is simply meant to let the authorities know where you’re residing, people should be able to fill out a single form on a website or at a […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Stepan Ivanov, combined report, RBTH – February 24, 2013) Dmitry Bak, the new director of the Literature Museum, talked to a number of journalists about how the museum is developing and emphasized how classic Russian literature needs to be understood through the contemporary. To this end, the director suggests branding Russian literature […]
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(www.opendemocracy.net – Grigory Okhotin – February 22, 2031) Grigory Okhotin is a journalist and co-founder of the grassroots police monitoring organisation OVD-Info [‘police-info’]. [Charts here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/grigory-okhotin/arrest-and-custody-russian-style] Police custody, violence, trials and imprisonment have been all to common features on the Russian protest landscape since December 2011. A grassroots monitoring project called OVD-info has kept realtime data on the arrests; co-founder […]
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(Moscow TImes – themoscowtimes.com – February 25, 2013) Two companies co-owned by people seen as close to President Vladimir Putin were awarded the largest number of major road and bridge construction contracts by City Hall in 2011-12, Vedomosti reported Tuesday. In the period, a total of 150 road and bridge construction contracts worth 182.4 billion rubles ($6 billion) were awarded, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – www.rbth.ru – Viktor Litovkin, special to RBTH – February 22, 2013) The replacement of Anatoly Serdukov by Sergei Shoigu has not meant a retreat from the modernization of the Russian armed forces. On the eve of Feb. 23, Defender of the Fatherland Day, Russian Defense Minister General Sergei Shoigu alerted the Ivanovo Airborne Division, based […]
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