RUSSIA NEWS & INFORMATION – Johnson’s Russia List contents & links :: JRL 2021-#167 :: Tuesday, 24 August 2021

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2021-#167 :: Tuesday, 24 August 2021
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1. The National Interest: Dimitri K. Simes, Dangerous Illusions. Policymakers in the United States and Europe have adopted the position that their mission is to promote democracy worldwide, regularly arguing that if they fail, authoritarian governments will exploit American restraint and join forces.
2. Carnegie Moscow Center: Alexander Baunov, Lessons for Russia From the U.S. Leadership Crisis. It would be foolish to assume the American withdrawal from Afghanistan will be repeated everywhere else that there is a U.S. presence.
https://carnegie.ru/commentary/85182
3. Moscow Times: Putin Announces $7Bln Pre-Election Handouts. Four weeks before Duma elections, the president says more than 45 million pensioners will receive a cash handout.
4. rt.com: Russian economy ‘practically restored’ to pre-pandemic level – President Putin
– rt.com/business/532752-putin-russia-economy-pre-pandemic-level/
5. AP: Putin hopes ruling party will dominate parliament after vote
6. Paul Goble: Shoygu Set to Replace Medvedev as Head of United Russia, Shevchenko Says.
7. Bloomberg: Clara Ferreira Marques, Elections Aren’t Getting Any Easier For the Kremlin. Russia’s unpopular ruling party needs a big win next month. That means jailed opponents, cash handouts — and fewer eyes watching.
8. PONARS Eurasia: Expectations for Russia’s September Parliamentary Elections. PONARS Eurasia Commentary by Maria Lipman and Nikolay Petrov with Vladimir Gel’man, Grigorii Golosov, Ben Noble, Gleb Pavlovsky, Andrey Pertsev, Ekaterina Schulmann, and Denis Volkov.
9. Moscow Times: Kremlin Says Not Behind ‘Foreign Agent’ Labels Given to Independent Media.
10. rt.com: Paul Robinson, ‘Foreign agents’: As Russia & Ukraine target press outlets, Western media’s selective coverage exposes bias behind its concerns.
11. New York Times: Russian Journalists Meet a Crackdown With Dark Humor, and Subscribers. Meduza, a leading independent news site, fights back with jokes and a stunning donation campaign. But can it stand up to the Russian state?
12. Financial Times: Afghanistan shows folly of western interference, says Putin. Russian president also stands firm on Navalny sentencing after talks with German chancellor.
13. The Bell: Russia courts the Taliban as U.S. exits Afghanistan.
14. www.rt.com: EU more worried about Russia & China winning from Western collapse in Afghanistan than future of country, Moscow’s FM Lavrov says.
15. TASS: Vedomosti: Washington’s Afghan war costs seven times more than Soviet Union’s campaign.
16. Indian Punchline: M.K. Bhadrakumar, Reflections on Events in Afghanistan-6. The untold secrets of Panjshir Valley.
17. The National Interest: Peter Huessy, Entangled America: Why Another International Nuclear Arms Race Has Begun. Washington’s ability to “hedge” against a collapse of the nuclear treaties supporting the reduction of weapons in Russia and other countries is disappearing.
18. Russia Observer: Patrick Armstrong, RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP 19 AUGUST 2021.
19. Financial Times: Lukashenko’s ever closer Russian ties raise risks for Putin. A weak and isolated Belarus suits the Russian president’s strategic goals, but only up to a point.
20. Moscow Times: IMF Awards $1Bln Reserves to Belarus Despite Fierce Opposition. Minsk was included in the IMF’s historic reserve allocation despite strong pushback from the U.S. and others.
21. AP: Ukraine’s leader vows to do all he can to bring back Crimea.
22. rt.com: Ukraine CAN retake Crimea if West supports claims, Kiev insists, as Zelensky blasts ‘reluctant’ foreign leaders ‘afraid’ of Russia.
23. TASS: Izvestia: What’s wrong with the goals of the Crimea Platform.
24. Washington Post: Michael McFaul, The U.S. and Ukraine need to reboot their relationship. Here’s how they can do it.
25. rt.com: Tarik Cyril Amar, Ukraine turns 30: On landmark anniversary of independence, Europe’s second-largest country remains divided about its future path.
26. Atlantic Council: Peter Dickinson, Is Ukraine’s split from Russia now irreversible?