RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#163 :: Monday, 16 August 2021

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net

Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU

[check back for updates, including more links; some links also posted to facebook and twitter]

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#163 :: Monday, 16 August 2021
A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs. The contents do not necessarily represent the views of IERES or The George Washington University.
JRL Home: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.

1. Al Jazeera: Leonid Ragozin, Why the prevailing doom and gloom view of Russia is wrong. Russia is more modernised and westernised today than it has ever been in the past 100 years.
2. Moscow Times: Putin Alarmed Over ‘Unprecedented’ Natural Disasters in Russia
3. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Unprecedented natural disasters in Russia will require unprecedented costs.
4. Moscow Times: Sergey Radchenko, Afghanistan Has Never Been Moscow or Washington’s to Win or Lose. Getting in was a bad mistake. Getting out was the right thing to do.
5. TASS: US does not want to be responsible for its geopolitical experiments, Russian diplomat says  – tass.com/politics/1326535
6. rt.com: Russia could recognize Taliban as Afghanistan’s official government after collapse of US-backed administration, Putin’s envoy says – rt.com/russia/532190-kabulov-recognition-taliban-official-government/
7. TASS: Izvestia: Why Kabul surrendered without resistance and what it could mean for Russia.
8. rt.com: US ‘failure’ in Afghanistan handed country to Taliban, Moscow says, claims American ‘hegemony’ declining as Russia & China on rise – rt.com/russia/532152-russia-china-rise-afghanistan-presence/
9. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, EXPLAINING AFGHANISTAN’S COLLAPSE.
– irrussianality.wordpress.com/2021/08/14/explaining-afghanistans-collapse/#more-6466
10. Facebook: Fred Weir, Afghanistan.
11. Asia Times: Salman Rafi Sheikh, The root of Russia’s fears in Afghanistan. Islamic State Khorasan is no friend of the Taliban and is well-placed to recruit jihadis alienated by its Moscow embrace.
12. Eurasianet.org: Central Asia scrambles for clear response as Afghanistan crisis spills over. Eurasianet sources say dozens of planes from Afghanistan have landed in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan over the last 24 hours.
13. Asia Times: Pepe Escobar, The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan back with a bang. The US ‘loss’ of Afghanistan is a repositioning and the new mission is not a ‘war on terror,’ but Russia and China.
14. National Security Archive: The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, 1979: Not Trump’s Terrorists, Nor Zbig’s Warm Water Ports. Declassified Documents Show Moscow’s Fear of an Afghan Flip, U.S. Diplomat’s Meeting with Afghan Leader Helped Put Soviets Over the Edge.
15. Interfax: Russian Communist Party to be on top of ballot paper in Duma elections by draw.
16. Meduza: September’s likely winners. Meet the doctors, cosmonauts, and pro-Kremlin youth stars expected to grab seats in Russia’s next Parliament.
17. Paul Goble: Putin Better Reflects Underlying Russian Values than Does the Opposition and His System will Thus Outlast Him and It, Pastukhov Says.
18. NYU Jordan Center: The Russian Private Sector Today: Challenges and Prospects in a Post-Pandemic World
19. Bloomberg: Russian Economy Grew Fastest since 2000 on Lockdown Rebound.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-13/russian-economy-grew-fastest-since-2000-on-lockdown-rebound?sref=3HD2Fyvy
20. AP: Russia can renew BBC journalist visa if UK responds in kind
21. Air & Space: What’s Going on With Russia’s Space Program? Was the recent ISS emergency an aberration, or a warning of things to come?
https://www.airspacemag.com/daily-planet/whats-going-russian-space-program-180978436/
22. American Committee for US-Russia Accord: David C. Speedie and Krishen Mehta, Opening Doors, Opening Minds
23. Wall Street Journal: Belarus Dissident at Center of Jet Grounding Cools Support for Lukashenko’s Opponent. Under house arrest, Roman Protasevich could face up to 15 years in prison; ‘I hope everything will end well.’
https://www.wsj.com/articles/belarus-dissident-at-center-of-jet-grounding-cools-support-for-lukashenkos-opponent-11628957816?page=1
24. RAND: Russian Grand Strategy. Rhetoric and Reality (By Samuel Charap et al)
https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4238.html

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

Map of CIS Central Asia and Environs

Eurasia Map

 

Comment