RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2017-163 :: Thursday, 24 August 2017

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2017-#163
Thursday, 24 August 2017
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1. Moscow Times: Russians’ Tolerance for Foreigners at All-Time High.
2. Foreign Affairs book review: Robert Legvold on “Everyday Law in Russia” by Kathryn Hendley.
3. Bloomberg: A Month After Tighter Sanctions, Russia Risk Drops to a Four-Year Low.
4. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Looking out Five Years: What Should Washington and Its European Allies Expect From Moscow? Russians have become skeptical about a truly global order. At best, interactions with Western countries will be transactional, based on national interests when those happen to coincide or come close.
5. TASS: Russia expects US hotheads to cool down, cycle of sanctions to end – Lavrov.
6. AP: Small Town Miles From Moscow Sees a Political Awakening.
7. www.rt.com: 34 Russian artists, celebrities vouch for renowned theater director accused of embezzlement.
8. Interfax: Russian ex-deputy minister Aleksashenko detained in airport, released, then case on cultural valuables smuggling opened against him – source.
9. www.rt.com: Putin’s approval rating at 83 percent in August.
10. www.rt.com: Lib Dems leader confirms presidential ambitions, proposes single-term limit.
11. Meduza: Have Russian cops ever helped you? Facebook users share stories about the helpfulness, or lack thereof, of local police.
12. TASS: Top Sberbank analyst warns Russians’ real income won’t surge in the near future.
13. Interfax: Moscow press review for August 24, 2017. (excerpt)
14. Russia Beyond the Headlines: The shackles are off: Russia finally frees itself of massive Soviet debts. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the newly formed Russian Federation didn’t only have to come up with a new financial strategy for its future, but also think about repaying the billions of dollars the Soviet Union borrowed from abroad.
15. AP: Russian Official Says U.S. and Russia Aren’t in New Cold War. (Sergei Ryabkov)
16. The National Interest: Michael Lind, The ‘New Cold War’ Was Never Inevitable. In a decade, today’s Russian Peril will probably seem as deranged as the Red Scares of the 1920s and the 1950s.
17. The National Interest: Conrad Black, What Russia Can Do for America. U.S. goodwill is worth more to the Russians than any degree of friendliness with Iran.
18. Council on Foreign Relations: Managing Global Disorder: Prospects for U.S.-Russian Cooperation. Relations between the United States and Russia have recently declined, but U.S., European, and Russian experts identify possible areas of cooperation for the two to work together to foster global stability.
19. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russia mulls retaliation against new US sanctions.
21. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia Prepares New Sanctions Against U.S. As Washington Blames Moscow For Supporting Taliban.
22. Asia Times: Inga Velanskaya, How Russia may benefit from North Korean sanctions. Shutting off raw material exports from North Korea could create demand for Russian supplies.
23. Reuters: As Syria War Tightens, U.S. and Russia Military Hotlines Humming.
24. www.rt.com: Civil war in Syria ‘de-facto over’ – Russian defense minister.
25. Indian Punchline: M. K. Bhadrakumar, Russia-Turkey-Iran triangle gains traction.
26. www.al-monitor.com: Yury Barmin, Russia weighs its role as arbiter in Libya. As Moscow works to shore up its influence in bringing Libya’s rival governments together, it is examining whether Gen. Khalifa Hifter is more of an asset or a liability.
27. Russian International Affairs Council: Artyom Lukin, The Korean Nuclear Missile Crisis: It Takes Three to Tango.
28. www.aljazeera.com: Leonid Issaev, The Russian-Saudi rapprochement and Iran. Would Russia draw closer to Saudi Arabia and risk losing Iran?
29. The Guardian (UK): ‘We know how to live next to Russia’: Lithuania builds border fence with Kaliningrad. Russia’s recent Baltic moves – huge military exercise, cyber-attacks, missile deployment and seizure of Estonian official – prompt action by Vilnius.
30. www.rt.com: Washington mulls supplying Ukraine with lethal weapons – US defense secretary.
31. Sputnik: Over 90% of Russians Proud of Country’s Army – Pollster.
32. War on the Rocks: Michael Kofman, WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING ZAPAD 2017.