Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#170 :: 18 September 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#170 : 18 September 2013
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POLITICS

1. Moscow News: Anna Arutunyan, Russia shrugged: Searching for national identity.
2. Russia Direct: Sean Guillory, Sistema: How power works in modern Russia. A new book by Alena Ledeneva explains “sistema” ­ Russia’s complex web of informal practices, unwritten rules and personal relationships.
3. Carnegie Moscow Center: Thomas de Waal, A Putin Problem.
4. The Week (UK): Crispin Black, Vladimir Putin: an increasingly attractive political leader. Once again we feel the need for strong leadership. I am beginning to envy the Russians.
5. www.opendemocracy.net: Tatyana Kargina, ‘Delai Sam’ – Russian community DIY.
6. ITAR-TASS: Tim Tebow signs contract with Russian football team.
7. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say Sept. 18, 2013.
8. Moscow TImes: Lilia Shevtsova, Navalny’s Moral Victory Puts Kremlin In a Bind.
9. BBC Monitoring: Russia’s Navalnyy says nationalist marches help ‘demarginalize’ people – TV.
10. Moscow Times: Yulia Latynina, How Yevgeny Roizman Became Mayor.
11. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Coordination Opposition Council left without most prominent oppositionists.
12. www.opendemocracy.net: Grigorii Golosov, Have the September elections changed anything?
13. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Declining Voter Participation, Not Rising Support for Opposition, Greater Threat to the Kremlin, Moscow Analyst Suggests. (Aleksey Roshchin)
14. Interfax: Campaign of lies launched against Academy – ex-president.
15. Moscow Times: Duma to Consider Science Reform Amid Protest.
16. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Will new standards improve Russian education? During the Cold War, American students were told to study hard to compete with their Soviet counterparts. How does Russian education stack up today?
17. ITAR-TASS: Experts say consistent and resolute efforts needed to combat drug threat in Russia.
18. Moscow Times: Filin Returns to Bolshoi 9 Months After Attack.

ECONOMY

19. RIA Novosti: Russia’s Economy at Worst Since Global Crisis – Minister.
20. Reuters: Economic slowdown and Putin’s promises take toll on Russian budget.
21. Interfax: SUMMARY: Russia could cut, redistribute some budget expenditure in next three years.
22. RIA Novosti: Russian business ombudsman urges amnesty for migrants.
23. Over 500 businessman pardoned in Russia under economic amnesty in ten weeks – business ombudsman

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

24. Interfax: Russian territorial integrity must be protected at any cost – poll.
25. Interfax: Russians still have largely positive view of USA but trend is negative – poll.
26. Reuters: Russia says U.N. report on Syria attack preconceived, political.
27. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Can Russia and the U.N. save Syria? Despite ­ or perhaps because of ­ its touchy bilateral relations with many member countries, Russia maintains that the United Nations is still relevant today.
28. RIA Novosti: US, Russia Spar over Truth, Consequences in Syria.
29. Rossiyskaya Gazeta : Leonid Radzikhovskiy, Fine Move. Russia’s leadership has made a really fine move — something that happens rarely in world politics and diplomacy.
30. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia presses claims Syria rebels behind gas attack.
31. ITAR-TASS: Kremlin denies Soviet Union supplied warheads with sarin to other countries.
32. Interfax: Moscow to send to UN SC proof that insurgents used chemical weapons in Ghouta – Lavrov.
33. RIA Novosti: Russian Expert Decodes Info On Shells Found In Syria By UN Inspectors.
34. RIA Novosti: Pundits Dismiss Russian Trace In UN Report On Chemical Attack In Syria.
35. RIA Novosti: Syria Hands Russia Proof on Rebels’ Use of Chemical Weapons.
36. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Why Russia still needs the UN. Although Russia is involved in many other multilateral groups, the UN gives the country status and influence.
37. CNN.com: Jill Dougherty, Russian roots of American exceptionalism.
38. RFE/RL: Could U.S. Assets Seizure Lead To Expansion Of Magnitsky Blacklist?
39. Russia Direct: Nikolay Murashkin, China, Russia and the new great game in Central Asia. At the recent SCO summit in Bishkek, both Russia and China sought to increase their diplomatic and economic clout with the increasingly important states of Central Asia.
40. Eurasia Review: Subhash Kapila, Russia’s Strategic Choices In The Asia Pacific -­ Analysis.
41. Reuters: Ukraine government presses Europe ambitions, ignores Russia.
42. Interfax: Ivanishvili: Normalization of Georgian-Russian relations will take 5-7 years.

OTHER RESOURCES

43. The Harriman Institute: Reminder: Peter Juviler Memorial Service. September 20 New York.
44. PONARS Eurasia Policy Conference – September 23-24. Washington DC.
45. Michael Slobodchikoff: New book, Strategic Cooperation: Overcoming the Barriers of Global Anarchy.
46. Andrew Monaghan: Russian strategy: new article in International Affairs.
47. Dominique Arel: Call for Papers. 19th Annual World Convention of the Association for the Study of Nationalities (ASN)