JRL Table of Contents :: Johnson’s Russia List 2012-#163 – 11 September 2012

Johnson’s Russia List
2012-#163
11 September 2012
davidjohnson@starpower.net
A World Security Institute Project
www.worldsecurityinstitute.org
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In this issue

POLITICS

1. Kommersant: NO LONGER IMPRESSIVE Pollsters say that support for Vladimir Putin dropped 20% over the last ten years.
2. Josh Wilson: Five Russia-Related Issues to Watch this Semester.
3. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, What is the Russian Middle Class? Probably Not What You Think
4. New Statesman (UK): James Rodgers, Is Vladimir Putin’s adolescent Russia ever going to grow up? It’s now 21 years since the end of the Soviet Union, but Russia’s politics are still strikingly teenage in nature.
5. ITAR-TASS: Russian elite may be forced to say goodbye to foreign properties.
6. Moscow Times/BBC Monitoring: What the Papers Say, Sept. 11, 2012.
7. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: OCTOBER STAFF SHUFFLES. Staff shuffles are expected to follow President Putin’s birthday in October.
8. Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Ivan Rodin, In Politics: Vladimir Putin’s Universal Screwdriver. Russian President Once Again Demonstrates His Signature Harshness.
9. Nezavisimaya Gazeta editorial: Putin Making ‘Mistake’ In Protecting Public Officials on Corruption Question.
10. Moskovskiy Komsomolets: Stanislav Belkovskiy, Putin: Mask and Soul; Era of Money Is Ending.
11. Moscow Times: Vladimir Frolov, How Putin’s Strategy Is Blowing Up in His Face
12. ITAR-TASS: Municipal filter hampers opposition candidates at gubernatorial polls.
13. Moscow TImes: Roundtable Reveals Continued Split in Opposition.
14. Moscow News: Closing in on Gudkov. The targeting of the oppositionist politician is the result of ‘selective law enforcement’
15. Valdai Discussion Club: Is multi-party system a benefit for Russia? (Sergei Mikheyev)
16. www.russiatoday.com: Russian non-parliamentary parties to get permanent representation in Lower House.
17. Kommersant: ALEKSEI KUDRIN NEEDS A PARTY. ALEKSEI KUDRIN SUGGESTS ESTABLISHMENT OF A PARTY COMPRISING FREE-MARKET PROMOTERS
18. Moscow Times editorial: The Right to Worship Holds for All Faiths.

ECONOMY

19 Interfax: Putin Says Improving Business Climate in Russia a Key Priority.
20. Interfax: Fewer Russians Keen On WTO Membership Than 10 Years Ago – Poll.
21. Moscow News: Problems ahead for Gazprom. U.S. gas exports are set to start, but there are bigger threats to the monopoly’s dominance.
22. Moscow Times: IT Sector Suffers from Brain Drain.
23. Reuters: Kremlin tightens rules on Russian firms operating abroad.
24 New York Times: Nation Rich in Land Draws Workers From One Rich in People. (re Russia and China)
25. Interfax: Putin Explains Benefits of Trans-siberian, BAM, Northern Sea Routes to APEC Leaders.

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

26. Moscow News: Building bridges. (re APEC conference)
27. ITAR-TASS: RUSSIAN PRESS REVIEW. APEC summit – success for Russia.
28. Moscow News editorial: Eastern promises.
29. Voice of America: James Brooke, Vlad in Vlad: Forging Russia’s First Hot City on the Pacific Rim.
30. Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Full Transcript of S.V. Lavrov Remarks Following Negotiations With H. Clinton September 8, 2012.
31. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Russia: Try again on Syria talks, Assad might be willing to go.
32. Moscow Times: U.S. Allows Russians 3-Year Visa.
33. www.russiatoday.com: Fyodor Lukyanov, Russia and US: Lacking agenda.
34. The Hill: Romney doubles down on Russia as ‘geopolitical adversary’
35. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, Whether Obama or Romney, the Reset Is Dead
36. www.russiatoday.com: US presidential elections ‘worst in the world’ ­ Russia’s election boss.
37. The National Interest: Thomas de Waal, Violence Flares on the Georgian-Russian Border.
38. New York Times: Peter Rutland, Two Steps Backwards in the Caucasus.