Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#171 :: 19 September 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#171 :: 19 September 2013
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POLITICS

1. Valdai Discussion Club: LIVE: Broadcast of Vladimir Putin’s speech at the Valdai Club’s plenary meeting.
2. RIA Novosti: Russia Moves Up, US Falls in World Economic Freedom Ranking.
3. www.thenation.com: Stephen Cohen, Demonizing Putin Endangers America’s Security. Putin-bashing on the left and the right must stop in the interest of US national security.
4. Bloomberg: Dmitri Trenin, The West Just Doesn’t Get Putin.
5. Valdai Discussion Club: Valdai Club members: Value system in Russia should focus on the future.
6. ITAR-TASS: Experts point out steep growth of interest towards Russian language in US.
7. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Roofs and bottle caps: Deciphering Russian slang. Matryoshka, kolhkoz, sputnik, perestroika­all of these original and untranslatable words have been borrowed in other languages from Russian at one time in history or another. This happened recently with another Russian word­krysha­in English.
8. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say Sept. 19, 2013.
9. www.russiatoday.com: Kremlin admin chief urges dialogue with law-abiding opposition. (Sergei Ivanov)
10. Valdai Discussion Club: Valdai 2013: Moscow mayoral election was “sterile” ­ Sergei Ivanov.
11. RIA Novosti: Russian PM Medvedev Has Over 2 Mln Twitter Followers.
12. Moscow Times: Konstantin Sonin, Navalny’s 27% Is a Win for Entire Nation.
13. Interfax: Navalnyy’s status as undisputed leader of Russian opposition questioned.
14. Vedomosti: 8 September Elections Show ‘Crisis of Parliamentary Opposition.’ (Maksim Glinkin)
15. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Political Analyst Belkovskiy Says Navalnyy Is Creating ‘A Totalitarian Sect’ in His Name.
16. RIA Novosti: Russian Opposition Lawmaker Calls Large-Scale Protests Unlikely. (Ilya Ponomaryov)
17. PONARS Eurasia: James Richter, Civil Society and the Second Putinshchina. By limiting the space for independent social action, civic organizations in Russia will cease to be a source of social innovation and will function like any other state bureaucracy. In this case, the latest chapter of Putinism will increasingly resemble Brezhnevian stagnation.
18. PONARS Eurasia: Brian Taylor, Putin’s Crackdown: Sources, Instruments, and Challenges. The Kremlin’s multipronged crackdown on civil society seems to have been more successful than unsuccessful. But that does not mean Russia has a well-ordered police state-there is a lot of disorder inherent in Putinism, even with Medvedevism on the run.
19. RAPSI: 90% of Russians support NGO law – official. (Sergei Ivanov)
20. RIA Novosti: Russian Parliamentary Committee Approves NGO Snap-Check Bill
21. RIA Novosti: Russian Parliament Gives Approval for State to Take Over Academy of Sciences.
22. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Russians Deeply Conflicted on Ethnic Issues, Poll Shows.
23. Moscow Times: Marilyn Murray, Childhood Offenses Instill Defensive Mind-Set.

ECONOMY

24. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Russian economy stalls.
25. Moscow Times: IT, Retail Executives Make It to the Top of Russian Business Leaders.
26. BBC Monitoring: Experts don’t believe in US threats to Russian banks.
27. Nezavisimaya Gazeta editorial: Moscow Daily Views German Exporters’ Criticisms of Russian Trade Policy Since WTO Entry.
28. Moscow Times: Chris Weafer, Terraforming Russia’s Economy.
29. Moscow Times: Eco-Consciousness Growing, One Package at a Time.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

30. RIA Novosti: Americans’ Views on Russia, Putin Sour – Poll.
31. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. Russian army needs weapons of the future.
32. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Russia, US Seen Without Equals in Practice of Diplomatic Art. (Fedor Lukyanov)
33. Kommersant: Commentary: Russia Takes Over China’s Role as ‘Chief Opponent’ of United States. (Sergey Strokan)
34. Wall Street Journal: Moscow Says No One Wins if Syria Keeps Arms.Foreign Minister Lavrov Says Russia Fears Consequences of Assad’s Fall but Hopes Weapons Deal Builds Trust With U.S.
35. AFP: Syria ‘gave assurances’ it will meet chem handover deadline: Russia.
36. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Hold Off on Champagne: Hard Slog Lies Ahead.
37. www.russiatoday.com: Russia: UN inspectors ignored evidence on Syria chemical attacks.
38. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Syria gas attack: Does Russia know something that the US doesn’t?
39. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Russian Pundit: UN Syria Report Might ‘Easily’ Lead to Western Strike Against Syria. (Yevgeniy Satanovskiy)
40. ITAR-TASS: Russia can take part in transportation and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons.
41. Izvestia: Military Contingent Disposing of Syria’s Chemical Weapons Should Not Be Exclusively Russian.
42. Kommersant: Russian Commentator Notes US Overtures to Iran in Wake of Syria Diplomatic Moves. (Sergey Strokan)
43. The Weekly Wonk: Joshua Tucker, Needling, Wary Collaboration.
44. Pravda.ru: Senator John McCain: Russians deserve better than Putin.
45. ITAR-TASS: In essence, McCain has nothing to tell Putin, official says.
46. Pravda.ru: ‘McCain believes that God left people his will in America’s national documents.’ (Vladimir Solovyov)
47. Time.com: Garry Kasparov, Putin’s Pawn: Forget Chess or Checkers – Obama Forfeited
48. Interfax: Russia is restoring its military presence in Arctic, not expanding it – Foreign Ministry.