RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-78 :: Monday, 25 April 2016

Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#78
Monday, 25 April 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. Time: Stephen Sestanovich, TIME 100 LEADERS. Vladimir Putin.
2. Moscow Times: Same Level of Corruption Recorded in Russian, U.S. Businesses – Survey.
3. www.rt.com: Economic crime down 20% in Russia – PwC.
4. Russia Beyond the Headlines/Gazeta.ru: Why Russia hopes for realism from the next U.S. president. With the election picture gradually becoming clearer in the U.S., political analyst Fyodor Lukyanov asks whether the identity of the next American president really matters in Russia, and explores the crisis of realism in U.S. foreign policy.
5. Izvestia: Sergei Karaganov, NEW IDEOLOGICAL STRUGGLE?
6. Russia in Global Affairs: Ivan Safranchuk, A Cheerless Landscape. U.S. Approaches to Russia Policy.
7. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Can 2 political émigrés foment a revolution in Russia from abroad? With half a year remaining before parliamentary elections in Russia, not only the Russian government but also its opponents have intensified their activities. In London two millionaires are open in their support for a revolution in Russia. But instead of undertaking concrete action they are waiting for the government to make mistakes.
8. Russia Direct: Ivan Tsvetkov, Inside Russian top investigator’s latest manifesto against extremism. It remains to be seen whether the Kremlin will listen to the ideas of one of the country’s top law enforcement officers to impose even greater censorship and control over Russian society as part of enhanced efforts to win the “information war” with the West.
9. Vedomosti: Russian analysts look at motives behind investigations chief’s article. (re Alexander Bastrykin)
10. Wall Street Journal: New Russian Security Force Will Answer to Vladimir Putin. The Russian Guard is being formed ahead of coming parliamentary elections.
11. Paul Goble: Russians Will Stop Supporting Putin Only When They See His Weakness, Yakovenko Says.
12. Russia Insider: Is the CIA Running a Defamation Campaign Against Putin? (interview with the Saker). The latest hot topic in the Russian media. Russian politicians are talking about it. Historical precedent and behavior of Western media suggests that they are.
13. www.rt.com: Rights ombudsman supports full ban on debt collectors in Russia.
14. Forbes.com: Mark Adomanis, Russia’s Labor Market Continues To Deteriorate.
15. Intellinews.com: Russian investment falls in everything except extraction and agriculture in 2015.
16. www.rt.com: US losing out to Russian wheat exports.
17. Russia Direct: Jerry Byers, The Doha oil summit: Is there a silver lining for Russia? Small and medium Russian oil producers are in good shape despite the failure of the recent Doha oil summit.
18. https://newcoldwar.org: ‘Putin and Russia are ideal scapegoats for Europe’s rulers.’ Part two of an interview with Russian economist Vasily Koltashov by Ulrich Heyden.
19. https://gordonhahn.com: Gordon Hahn, Pentagon Mixing StratComm and ‘CYA’ in Campaign against Russia’s Syria Intervention.
20. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, President Hillary? If you think Russian-American relations are bad now, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
21. The Hill: Lawmakers look to get tough on Russia.
22. Bloomberg: Leonid Bershidsky, Putin Badly Needs a Domestic Plan.
23. http://seansrussiablog.org: Sean Guillory, A Letter to the Russian Elite.
24. Intersection: Tatiana Stanovaya, Are the Russian authorities ready for revolution? The regime is not ready for mass repressions yet, although the toolkit is already being assembled.
25. Der Spiegel: Vibrant, Noisy and Booming. Welcome to the New Moscow.

UKRAINE

26. Kennan Institute: Brian Milakovsky, Understanding the “Under Control” Donbas.
27. Interfax: Donetsk republic attacked nearly 300 times by govt forces in 24 hours.
28. Fort Russ: Pushilin: Kiev benefits from “no peace, no war”; we could reach Lvov.
29. The National Interest: Alexander Clapp, How to Join a Ukrainian Militia. Meet the motley thugs of Right Sector.
30. Facebook: Ivan Katchanovski, Right Sector and Maidan.
31. www.rt.com: Murder suspected after Kiev politics expert plunges to his death. (Andrey Doroshenko)
32. The Observer (New York): Mikhail Klikushin, New Wunderkind Ukrainian PM Has Some Skeletons in His Closet. Fudged degrees, sweetheart land deals and ties to organized crime percolate around little known Volodymir Groysman.
33. Interfax-Ukraine: Ukraine strategically valuable in terms of new regime in Europe – Balcerowicz.
34. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: BALÁZS JARÁBIK and MIKHAIL MINAKOV, Ukraine’s Hybrid State. Ukraine has new institutions and a vibrant civil society, but a culture of corruption erodes state legitimacy. The state has been captured by enemies within.
35. Reuters: Russia Grants Ukraine’s Request to Delay Eurobond Case Defense.
36. New York Times: Chernobyl’s Silent Exclusion Zone (Except for the Logging).
37. www.rt.com: ‘Nuclear safety is no-politics zone’: Chernobyl plant head urges Russia-Ukraine cooperation.
38. The Nation: Dusty Christensen, 30 Years After the Chernobyl Meltdown, Why Is the Ukrainian Government Pushing Nuclear Energy? Or, how Ukraine learned to stop worrying and love its nuclear power plants.
39. PBS Newshour: Two years into new regime, grim realities persist in Ukraine.
40. CIS-Europe Monitoring Organization: Stanislav Byshok’s lecture at Brown University.