Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#3 :: 3 January 2014

Johnson’s Russia List :: 2014-#3 :: 3 January 2013
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George
Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org
JRL homepage: russialist.org
JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php

POLITICS

1. Patrick Armstrong: RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 2 January 2014 .
2. The Voice of Russia: No New Year mood in Volgograd of Russia which mourns blast victims.
3. http://geostrategicforecasting.net: Gordon Hahn, The Volgograd Bombings of 2013: The Ethnic Russian Mujahedin of the Caucasus Emirate’s Dagestani Network.
4. Deutsche Welle: Radical Islamists stoke Russian anxieties. Russians have deep-rooted anxieties when it comes to Wahabis. The country’s media claim that there are hundreds of thousand of radical Islamists in Russia. But are they all Wahabis?
5. The Economist: Terrorism in Russia. Will there be more? Russians feel vulnerable after two bombings in Volgograd.
6. Slate.com: Joshua Keating, What Motivates Russia’s “Black Widows”?
7. Reuters: John Lloyd, An empire dies slowly.
8. RIA Novosti: Putin-Led Civic Movement Registers First Regional Branch.
9. Moscow Times: Media Watchdog Calls For Release of Opposition Journalists.
10. Human Rights Watch: Despite prisoner amnesty, oppressive Russia escalating harassment of dissenters.
11. Russia Legal Information Agency (RAPSI): Top ten criminal case developments of 2013.
12. Los Angeles Times: Putin arrives in Sochi to inspect Olympic venues.
13. Bloomberg.com editorial: Putin’s Caucasian Games.
14. Bloomberg/Business Week: Joshua Yaffa, The Waste and Corruption of Vladimir Putin’s 2014 Winter Olympics.
15. Human Events: Patrick Buchanan, Obama should go to Sochi.
16. Opednews.com: Robert Parry, The Russian-Saudi Showdown at Sochi.
17. The Spectator (UK): Mary Dejevsky, Why doesn’t Russia have a Yad Vashem for the gulag? One of the 20th century’s great crimes is still awaiting a fitting memorial.

ECONOMY

18. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Oil Industry Is Doing Fine, Which Is Great News For The Kremlin.
19. www.russiatoday.com: Top 10 events that shook Russian economy in 2013.
20. The Economist: Gazprom and European gas markets. Paying the piper. European efforts to reduce the Russian state-owned company’s sway over gas prices have been partially successful.
21. National Law Review: Report on Russia’s Implementation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement.
22. Economonitor.com: How Not to Do Business in the Post-Soviet Bloc.
23. Oilprice.com: William Hudec, European Energy Security and the Quiet Close to the Pipeline Opera.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

24. Moscow Times: G8 Presidency to Be Marked by Transparency and Efficiency, Putin Says.
25. Interfax: Iranian president actively seeking solutions to domestic, foreign issues – Russian ambassador to Iran.
26. Washington Post: Will Englund, U.S. relations with Russia face critical tests in 2014 as Putin, Obama fail to fulfill expectations.
27. CNN.com: Matthew Rojansky, Putin’s amnesty is an opening for the West.
28. Washington Times: Edward Lozansky, A sound U.S. policy toward Russia. Communism collapsed 25 years ago, but partnership remains elusive.
29. The National Interest: Dov Zakheim, Washington and Moscow: Brothers in Arms?
30. RIA Novosti: Russian Navy to Expand Air Patrols in Arctic.
31. YaleGlobal Online: David Cameron, Putin’s Gas-Fueled Bailout of Ukraine. Europe may have given up too quickly on bailout and potential trade agreement for Ukraine.
32. Washington Post: Olga Onuch, Social networks and social media in Ukrainian “Euromaidan” protests.
33. The American Conservative: David Larison, Ukraine and Ideology.
34. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Belarusians Want to Join EU Rather than Russia, Poll Shows.