RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-227 :: Wednesday, 7 December 2016

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#227
Wednesday, 7 December 2016
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1. www.rt.com: Russians approve of their nation’s political course, but upset over economic situation, poll shows.
2. TASS: Putin tells about his dream, alcohol tests and advises not to neglect personal life.
3. Kremlin.ru: Vladimir Putin made a working trip to Chelyabinsk Region.
4. Aftenposten (Oslo): Norway experts say Russia wants to ease tension with West.
5. Russia Direct: Ekaterina Grobman, Khodorkovsky continues to bide his time abroad. Despite his still substantial wealth and political image abroad, former Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky remains a controversial figure at home.
6. www.rt.com: Khodorkovsky $105mn richer: Irish judge ‘unfreezes’ offshore cash pile.
7. TASS: Putin says Russia’s legal framework changes too quickly.
8. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with Constitutional Court judges.
9. Interfax: Sanctions, economic pressure are increasingly used for political pressure – Putin.
10. Russia Beyond the Headlines: What is the updated Russian cyber-security doctrine about? A new doctrine signed by Vladimir Putin reveals that a new factor has been added to the threats to Russia’s military and economic cyber-security: the undermining of traditional moral values.
11. New York Times: Russia Updates Plan to Counter Cyberattacks and Foreign Influence.
12. BBC Monitoring: Russian press split over new information security doctrine.
13. Intellinews.com: Ben Aris, Russia’s stock market is on a roll.
14. http://theduran.com: Alexander Mercouris, Russian economic update: Inflation falls to 5.8% in November, lowest since USSR’s fall.
15. www.rt.com: OPEC deal could give Russia extra $15bn in oil revenue.
16. Oilprice.com: How Russia Outsmarted OPEC.
17. Intellinews.com: Mark Galeotti, Russia’s regional challenge needs more than gubernatorial assessment.
18. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Vladimir Mikheev, Putin echoes Trump on foreign policy as Russia softens rhetoric. The highlights of the new approach to foreign policy in Vladimir Putin’s annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly (Russia’s parliament) on Dec. 1 suggest that the mood in Moscow is ripe for another try for a “reset” with the West – but on certain conditions.
19. Politkom.ru: Editorial views Russia’s new Foreign Policy Concept.
20. Russia Direct: Mark Entin, What kind of equality does Russia want in its relationship with the West? Room for debate: The current crisis in the Russia-EU relationship is deeply rooted in the concept of Western superiority. The only way out might be found in restructuring the relationship on an equal footing.
21. New York Post: F. H. Buckley, Trump’s Russia pivot is part of a ‘Lou Reed’ foreign policy.
22. The National Interest/Carnegie Corporation: Daniel Treisman, Deal with Russia, But Don’t Be Too Eager. Trump’s eagerness to meet with Putin put Moscow in the driver’s seat.
23. New York Times: Peter Galbraith, How the War Ends in Syria.
24. The Foreign Service Journal: Raymond Smith, U.S.-Russia relations are in disarray, with talk of a new Cold War pervasive. Fortunately, framing the conflict in terms of national interests points to a way forward.
25. The Foreign Service Journal: Justin Lifflander, Four Centuries and Three Decades of Russian Thinking. Conversations in Moscow with Russians of different social strata paint a vivid picture of a country grappling with the meaning of the past quarter-century’s upheavals.
26. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Kommersant: Lack of trust casts shadow over Putin-Abe summit – former Russian envoy. Moscow and Tokyo are equally concerned about “losing face” and showing weakness during talks on the territorial issue. This is likely to come in the way of the countries signing a World War II peace treaty when Vladimir Putin visits Japan on Dec. 15-16, according to former Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Panov.
27. http://theduran.com: Catherine Brown, Moscow: Russia’s capital and symbol. Russia’s capital is both the founder city and the symbol of Russia. It has been also been the ideological capital of world Communism. Today it is free for the first time to be not just a symbol but the capital of modern Russia.
28. The Awful Avalanche: The Decline And Fall Of The KGB – Part III.
29. The Awful Avalanche: The Decline And Fall Of The KGB – Part IV.
30. Kyiv Post: Onyshchenko releases first recording on Poroshenko’s alleged graft.
31. News from Crimea: The United States hints at that Ukraine should give up with Crimea for Donbass.
32. The Nation: Lev Golinkin, The Ukrainian Far Right-and the Danger It Poses. With violence and intimidation, neo-Nazis and other far-right groups are influencing the country’s domestic and foreign policy.
33. Counterpunch.org: David Swanson, New Rogue Anti-Russia Committee Created in “Intelligence” Act.
34. Politco.com: Jack Shafer, Who’s Afraid of a Little Russian Propaganda?
35. US-Russia.org: Coming together to generate ideas for a new foreign policy agenda. (panel discussion)
36. Paul Goble: Real Arrangements of Russian Power under Putin Increasingly like Those in Stalin’s Times, Pavlova Says.