RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-3 :: Thursday 7 January 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#3
Thursday 7 January 2016
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. Russia Direct: Pavel Koshkin, Lack of experts can stimulate Russian studies programs in the US. High-profile American officials now believe that Russia poses a national security threat to the U.S. Could better Russian Studies programs and a more robust supply of Russian experts alleviate the problem?
2. www.rt.com: Christmas Eve for millions of Orthodox Christians across the globe.
3. TASS: Putin greets Orthodox believers on Christmas Day.
4. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Czarist echo? Russian Orthodox Church drives to restore its political clout. The Russian Orthodox Church sees itself as the spiritual generator of public policy and the ideological bulwark of the state. Under Putin, priests have become fixtures in the military, schools, and other public institutions.
5. RFE/RL: For Protesting Russian Truckers, A Christmas Far From Home.
6. The Nation: James Carden, Uncle Sam Got a Shiny New Propaganda Bullhorn for Christmas. A new partnership is turning Radio Free Europe into an anti-Russia propaganda machine.
7. Paul Goble: Russian Nationalism among Young Very Different than Among Older Groups, Sociologist Says.
8. Quartz: David Lepeska, Russian female entrepreneurs say Russia could become a model of workplace gender equality.
9. Wall Street Journal: Russia’s Taxi-Hailing Apps Gain Ridership. Gett, Yandex.Taxi and Uber make inroads, despite protests by taxi drivers.
10. Russia Insider: Alexander Mercouris, Why Oil Prices Have Fallen and How That Affects Russia’s Economy. The oil price fall is mainly the result of the rise in US interest rates rather than the supply glut. It does not threaten the Russian budget or mean Russia is running out of money, but it has delayed cuts in Russian interest rates.
11. Russia Direct: Cautious hopes for a Russian economic rebound in 2016. Russia’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleg Fomichev argues that there is relative optimism for economic growth in Russia. He explains what needs to be done to improve the investment climate and support Russian innovation and start-ups.
12. Carnegie Moscow Center: Andrey Movchaz, What’s in Store for the Russian Economy in 2016?
13. Izvestia: Economist urges “structural changes” in Russian economy. (Nikita Isayev)
14. Voice of America: Russian Economy Killers: Oil and Sanctions.
15. Gazeta.ru: Russian editorial sees 2015 economic, political gloom continuing into 2016.
16. Consortiumnews.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Failed US Sanctions on Russia.
17. The American Conservative: Philip Gerald, The Distortion of Russia. One does not need to love Vladimir Putin to appreciate that Washington shares interests with Moscow.
18. www.project-syndicate.org: Michael McFaul, Can America and Russia Cooperate in Syria?
19. BBC: Russian experts cast doubt on North Korea’s H-bomb claims.
20. The Atlantic Council: Andreas Umland, Putin’s Fragile Popularity.
21. Washington Post: Paula J. Dobriansky and David B. Rivkin Jr, Putin’s anti-Obama propaganda is ugly and desperate.
22. Washington Free Beacon: U.S. General: We Have ‘Hugged’ the Russian Bear for Too Long. U.S. commander in Europe calls for more forces and equipment to deter ‘a revanchist Russia.’ (Philip Breedlove)
23. New York Times: Masha Gessen, Putin’s Year in Scandals.
24. http://readrussia.com: Mark Adomanis, “Stalinist” Has a Meaning, and It’s More Complicated Than “Bad”
25. Times Higher Education (UK): Alexander Yakovlev: The Man Whose Ideas Saved Russia from Communism, by Richard Pipes. Vladimir Tismaneanu on a study of one man’s journey from ‘Homo Sovieticus’ to ‘Homo Antisovieticus’

UKRAINE

26. Gallup.com: Ukrainians’ Life Ratings Sank to New Lows in 2015.
27. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, UKRAINIANS UNHAPPIER THAN EVER BEFORE.
28. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Maidan snipers. (with comment by Andreas Umland)
29. International Committee for the Red Cross: Ukraine: The people of war-damaged Nikishyne prepare for winter (video)
30. Stratfor.com: The U.S. Could Spoil Russia and Ukraine’s Delicate Compromise.
31. Russia Direct: The Minsk Agreements in 2016 and Russia’s new national security strategy. The situation in Ukraine dominated Russian media coverage at the end of 2015, with new focus on the Minsk Agreements for Eastern Ukraine and recent energy-related events on the Crimean peninsula.
32. UNIAN (Kyiv): Over 800 monuments to Lenin toppled in Ukraine.
33. The Guardian: Ukrainians say farewell to ‘Soviet champagne’ as decommunisation law takes hold. New regulations in Ukraine ban names of streets, towns and products from glorifying communism.
34. http://readukraine.com: Tim Lruzonis, Encounters with Homo Sovieticus and Digital Ukraine.
35. The Daily Signal: Nolan Peterson, In Ukraine, Lenin Gets the Boot From Uncle Sam.
36. Atlantic Council: Anders Aslund, New Russian Management of the Donbas Signifies Putin May Be Ready to Negotiate.
37. Consortiumnews.com: Robert Parry, Reality Peeks Through in Ukraine.
38. Le Monde diplomatique: Jens Malling, Ukraine conflict reaches the Caucasus.
39. Wall Street Journal: Edward Lucas, Split Personality. Will Ukraine become part of the West, like Poland? Or will it be drawn back into Moscow’s shadow, like a larger version of Belarus?
40. http://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, Maidan Ukraine, the Ultra-Nationalist Tradition, and Anti-Semitism, Parts 1 and 2.