RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#164 :: Tuesday, 17 August 2021

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#164 :: Tuesday, 17 August 2021
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1. Moscow Times: Russia’s 2021 Wildfires Now Largest in Recorded History
2. Paul Goble: Number of Russians Getting Vaccinated Each Day Falls by Almost Two-Thirds Since July
3. Russia International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, What Would Happen to the World Without the United States? – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/what-would-happen-to-the-world-without-the-united-states/
4. Moscow Times: As Chaos Engulfs Kabul, Russia Says It’s Ready to Work With the Taliban. Moscow has a history of pragmatism toward the Islamist militia and appears well placed for a transition in Afghanistan.
5. Riddle: The Taliban has reached Kabul. Why is Moscow so calm? Ivan U. Klyszcz looks at why Russia seems much less worried by the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan than it was in the 1990s.
6. Al Jazeera: Mansur Mirovalev, Does Russia have a new strategy for Afghanistan? Moscow will seek ‘pragmatic’ engagement with the Taliban after the armed group seized control of Afghanistan, analysts say.
7. rt.com: Paul Robinson, Afghan debacle is a sign of shift in global order: With Russian help, China quickly replacing US as world’s most important country – rt.com/russia/532261-west-russia-china-actions-afghanistan/
8. Politico.com: Anatol Lieven, Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms. Opposing Afghan factions have long negotiated arrangements to stop fighting — something the U.S. either failed to understand or chose to ignore.
9. Meduza;How Russia could patch things up with the Taliban (Arkady Dubnov)
– republic.ru/posts/101321?utm_source=republic.ru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=morning
10. rt.com; 32 years after he pulled USSR out of Afghanistan, Gorbachev says America’s failed war was also a ‘bad idea from the beginning’ – rt.com/russia/532321-gorbachev-us-failed-war-afghanistan/
11. Intellinews: U.S. threatens to revoke Russia’s ‘market economy’ status.
12. TASS: Vedomosti: US threatens Russia’s market economy status.
13. Bloomberg: Russia’s Fight Against Inflation Is Winning Over Bond Investors
14. Meduza: Putin approves anti-corruption plan for Russia through 2024.
15. The Conversation: Regina Smyth, Vladimir Putin plans to win Russia’s parliamentary election no matter how unpopular his party is.
16. Paul Goble: Is Shoygu Preparing to Become Russian President?
17. Foreign Affairs: Angela Stent, Russia’s Battle for the Black Sea. Why Moscow’s Moves Could Determine the Future of Navigation.
18. Asia Times: M.K.Bhadrakumar, Russia, China circle wagons pulling in Iran. Tehran admitted to Shanghai Cooperation Organization and membership in Russia-led Eurasian Economic Union is only a matter of time.
19. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kazantsev, Afghanistan Crisis: Security Problems for Russia and Central Asian States – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/analytics/afghanistan-crisis-security-problems-for-russia-and-central-asian-states/
20. Valdai Discussion Club: Andrey Sushentsov, How Much is Experience Worth? Twenty Years of US Experiments in the Middle East. The global wealth and influence of the United States was so great that it could simply afford a 20-year campaign with no practical value. With the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, the American government has reached the conclusion that this state of affairs has come to an end. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/how-much-is-experience-worth-twenty-years-of-us/
21. rt.com: Cyber sleuths cry cover-up in Ukrainian mayor ‘murder’ mystery, after finding inconsistencies in police video of supposed suicide – rt.com/russia/532280-pavlov-death-inconsistencies-police-video/