RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#220 :: Thursday AM 12 November 2015

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2015-#220
Thursday 12 November 2015
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.
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RUSSIA

1. Richard Sakwa speaks at George Washington University November 18.
2. Stephen Cohen speaks at the Commonwealth Club of California November 18.
3. Huffingtonpost.com: Robert Legvold on the New Cold War, Interview with Columbia University Professor and Leading Russia Scholar.
4. Sarah Lindemann-Komarova: Reaction to a piece in #217/Top Russian Media.
5. TASS: Moscow does not understand how money allocated by US can ensure media impartiality.
6. Financial Times: Russia accuses human rights group of seeking regime change.
7. Washington Post editorial: Russia cracks down on an important voice for human rights.
8. Government.ru: Dmitry Medvedev is interviewed by Rossiiskaya Gazeta on the paper’s 25th anniversary.
9. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, The Myth of an Imminent Anti-Putin Coup: Rusological Fail or Stratcomm?
10. Gazeta.ru: Website views Kremlin top official speech on 2016 parliamentary election.
11. Interfax: Medvedev: Retirement age has to be raised sooner or later.
12. Interfax: Minister says Russian economy to resume growth in second quarter of 2016.
13. TASS: Russian regions’ debts keep snowballing.
14. Fort Russ: Russian economist: How can business survive in a shrinking global market. (Mikhail Delyagin)
15. Russia Insider: Airbnb and Car Sharing Are Booming in Russia.
16. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Russia’s Economy Starts to Recover. Accumulation of economic data points to end of recession, suggesting that the economy is successfully rebalancing.
17.Russia Direct: How Russia can overcome its innovation challenges. Amidst the Open Innovation Forum in Moscow, Russia Direct sat down with Kendrick White, founder and director of Marchmont Capital Partners, to discuss how Russian universities can commercialize their most promising technologies and develop a thriving innovation ecosystem.
18. www.rt.com: Putin wants official investigation into Russian doping scandal.
19. Moscow Times: Russia to Consider Criminal Penalties for Doping, Sports Minister Says.
20. www.rt.com: Poor sports: ‘Russia stuck in middle of global athletics crisis.’ (interview with Martin McCauley)
21. TASS: Reuters’ source denies any links to report on Putin’s daughter.
22. TASS: Medvedev: Relations with West are complicated, but new wars are not to be even in thoughts.
23. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Georgy Bovt, Who is really throwing gasoline on Russia-U.S. relations? Accusations recently cast against Russia by Pentagon head Ashton Carter over what he sees as its irresponsible policies in Syria have threatened to overshadow overtures toward cooperation in investigating the Russian air disaster in Egypt.
24. TASS: Putin: Russia to develop strike systems capable of penetrating any missile defense shield.
25. TASS: Russia will not get involved in arms race, but has to eliminate shortfalls – Putin.
26. Interfax: Poll: 43% of Russians explain A321 crash with terror attack.
27. Bloomberg: Russia Sees Syria War Endgame Stretch to 2017 as Talks Renew.
28. Wall Street Journal: Russian Proposal on Syria Fails to Gain Traction. Plan leaves fate of Assad unclear, sparking criticism from West.
29. TASS: Syrian opposition confirms Russia’s proposal on constitutional reform.
30. The Long War Journal: Thomas Joscelyn, Assad regime, allies break Islamic State’s siege of air base in Aleppo.
31. www.aljazeera.com: Free Syrian Army decimated by desertions. In Aleppo, the rebel group has weakened as fighters leave due to low pay, poor conditions and fragmentation.
32. Moscow Times: After the Crash: What Are Russia’s Options in Syria?
33. Financial Times: Simon Saradzhyan, Putin should make Assad an offer he can’t refuse.
34. Moscow Times: Josh Cohen, Putin Is Achieving His Goals in Syria
35. www.rt.com: ‘Russia’s campaign against terrorists in Syria inciting retaliation.’ (interview with Catherine Shakdam)
36. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, West and Russia Must Cooperate on More Than Terrorism.
37. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: Olga Kuznetsova, Egypt air disaster: If terrorists to blame, did they have double aim? Egyptian authorities said on Nov. 9 that they had killed one of the leaders of local terrorist group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, which UK media report is responsible for bringing down the Russian airliner over the Sinai Peninsula on Oct. 31. Russian observers believe that if the accident was really a terrorist act, its perpetrators may have been trying to attack not only
38. www.thedailybeast.com: U.S. Baffled by Russian Jet ‘Bombing’
39. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, RUSSIA INVADES IRAN AND IRAQ.
40. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Bryan MacDonald, The U.S. electoral match-up the Kremlin elite would like to see. Although the U.S. presidential election is still more than a year away, the candidates have said enough about Russia to give some insights into where U.S.-Russia relations are likely to go.
41. http://readrussia.com: Marina Pustilnik, A Question of Terminology. (re Petr Pavlensky)
42. History News Network: Walter Moss, Review of Anthony Marra’s The Tsar of Love and Techno.