Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#227 :: 17 December 2013

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2013-#227 :: 17 December 2013
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POLITICS

1. RIA Novosti: 2 Out of 3 Russians Uninterested in Politics – Survey.
2. ITAR-TASS: Vladimir Putin named politician of year again. Russian Press Review
3. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Putin is the Nicholas II of Russia Today, Akhmetov Says.
4. Carnegie Moscow Center: Lilia Shevtsova, Putin’s Choice.
5. http://geostrategicforecasting.net: Gordon Hahn, Thirteen Years of Putin, Part 2: Political Development Under Putin.
6. ITAR-TASS: Moscow aerial panoramas available online.
7. Moscow Times: What the Papers Say, Dec. 17, 2013.
8. Moscow Times: Duma Set to Pass Amnesty Bill This Week.
9. ITAR-TASS: Russian opposition activist establishes social-democratic party.
10. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Aging of Russian Population Said Helping Putin Retain Power But Hurting Country Over the Longer Term.
11. ITAR-TASS: Former defense minister featured in criminal case may be amnestied. Russian Press Review.
12. Moscow Times: Viktoria Dyomkina, Why I Prefer to Be Alone Than Be With Any Man.
13. www.opendemocracy.net: The lower depths in Russia today . Over a century after Maksim Gorky’s famous play about homeless people ­ ‘The Lower Depths’ ­ Ekaterina Loushnikova has been looking around her home city of Kirov to see if anything has changed.

ECONOMY

14. ITAR-TASS: Presidential aide: World Bank Russian growth estimates understated.
15. Interfax: Kremlin aide says reasons economic growth measures not working must be analyzed.
16. Interfax: No drastic shift in Russia’s business climate made so far – presidential aide.
17. RIA Novosti: Kremlin Aide Calls for Interest Rate Cut Stimulus.
18. Business New Europe: Caught in the Bear Trap: why Russia never grows. (re Clifford Gaddy and Barry Ickes)
19. ITAR-TASS: Central Bank puts financial sector in order, no banking crisis on agenda.
20. Moscow Times/Reuters: South Stream Pipeline Viable, but Legally Risky.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

21. Xinhua: Yearender: Putin’s Diplomacy And Eurasian Dream Of Rejuvenation.
22. Reuters: Ukraine leader boosted by Russia oil supply deal, seeks loans.
23. AP: Who has the power in Ukraine’s crisis?
24. Interfax: Lavrov denies Russia pressed Ukraine to opt against EU deal.
25. Interfax: EU is in “tactical” split over Ukraine – Russian MP
26. Los Angeles Times: Ukraine’s besieged ruling party gets boost from by-election wins.
27. Business New Europe: Pro-govt rally in Kyiv highlights division in Ukraine.
28. BBC: Luhansk: The Ukrainian city where Lenin still stands.
29. Russia Beyond the Headlines: A divided Ukraine: Between Russia and the EU. The crisis over the country’s future intensifies as protesters backing closer ties with Europe bring the barricades back to Kiev’s Maidan Square.
30. ITAR-TASS: Contrary to US senators Obama shows restraint over European integration of Ukraine
31. Time.com: Can Vitali Klitschko, Ukraine’s Revolutionary Heavyweight, Be Its Next President?
32. www.foreignpolicy.com: Douglas Rediker and Heidei Crebo-Rediker, Ukraine’s False Choice. Yanukovych can pick Russia or the European Union. Either way, the economic reforms are coming.
33. www.russiatoday.com: Sergey Strokan, Euromaidan: The new club of Russia haters.
34. Moscow News: Vicky Pelaez, The foreign hand behind Ukraine’s protests.
35. Interfax: CSTO to discuss deterrence of “color revolutions”
36. wwww.russiatoday.com: US ‘manipulated public opinion,’ ignored appeals for Syria chem attack evidence – Churkin.
37. Interfax: Russia needs about 1,500 nuclear warheads for strategic deterrence – RVSN commander.
38. www.russiatoday.com: US to deploy ABM systems in Europe despite P5+1 deal with Iran.
39. Reuters: Russia has stationed Iskander missiles in western region-reports.
40. ITAR-TASS: West refreshes Russia’s enemy image.
41. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: Iskander in Kaliningrad is a vestige of the Cold War. There is nothing strange in the fact that Russia has placed tactical missile complex Iskander on the borders of the European Union. It was bound to happen, political expert Fyodor Lukyanov says.
42. Russia Beyond the Headlines/RIA Novosti: Should Russia fear the U.S. ‘Prompt Global Strike’? Russian officials have expressed their sharp criticism towards the U.S. plans for the so-called “Prompt Global Strike” initiative. Are they justified?
43. New York TImes editorial: Discrimination in Sochi.
44. http://geostrategicforecasting.net: Gordon Hahn, SECURITY ALERT ­ Raise the Alert Level Regarding a Chemical Weapons Attack on the Sochi Olympic Games .
45. ITAR-TASS: Relations between Orthodox and Catholic Christians improving. Russian Press Review.