RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-54 :: Friday, 23 March 2018

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#54
Friday, 22 March 2018
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1. Valdai Discussion Club: Richard Sakwa, THE SKRIPAL AFFAIR.
2. The Nation: Mary Dejevsky, Unanswered Questions Linger Over the Salisbury Poisoning. An anti-Russia smokescreen may prevent the truth of the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal from ever being known.
3. The Blogmire: Rob Slane, 30 Questions That Journalists Should be Asking About the Skripal Case.
4. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, THE SKRIPAL CASE GOES TO COURT FOR THE FIRST TIME – NEW UNCERTAINTIES FOR THE BRITISH AND RUSSIAN GOVERNMENTS.
5. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Aide-memoire to clarify the state of affairs as regards the so-called ‘Skripal case’
6. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Russia and Ukraine: From Brothers to Neighbors. Russia is parting ways with both Ukraine and Belarus. This did not have to be a tragedy with Ukraine, and can still be handled amicably with Belarus. Moreover, an independent Ukrainian state and a Ukrainian political nation ease Russia’s transition from its post-imperial condition and facilitate the formation of a Russian political nation.
7. Kremlin.ru: Address to Russia citizens.
8. AP: Putin thanks nation for re-election, promises “breakthrough”
9. Moscow Times: Kremlin Officials Split Over Putin’s Economic Promises.
10. TASS: Nezavisimaya Gazeta: Russian government set to unveil ‘miracle plan’ to steer the nation out of crisis.
11. Interfax: Dvorkovich: president to decide income tax rate; difference between 13% and 15% not critical.
12. Vedomosti: Editorial says convincing Putin’s victory ‘not guarantee’ of easy six years.
13. TASS: Putin wins presidential polls with 76.69% – Election Commission.
14. TASS: Poll shows most Russians satisfied with outcome of presidential election.
15. Washington Post: Votes for Putin surged among Russians in the West.
16. American Committee for East-West Accord: Gerald Easter, Russia’s Presidential Election: Meaning and Response.
17. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, Russia Endorses Putin as a Trusted Leader While Washington and London Condemn Him (Again). Some reflections on the Russian presidential election and on the Sergei Skripal case.
18. www.rt.com: Bryan MacDonald, Russian election: Western demonization of Putin has made him more popular in Russia.
19. http://usforeignpolicy.blogs.lalibre.be: Gilbert Doctorow, International observer mission to the Russian Presidential elections in Crimea, 18 March 2018. (excerpt)
20. Washington Post: Noah Buckley and David Szakonyi, Here’s what you can expect from Putin’s next 6 years.
21. Carnegie Moscow Center: A Mandate for Stagnation: After Russia’s Presidential Election. Vladimir Putin is beginning his fourth term as president of Russia. Andrei Kolesnikov, the head of the Domestic Politics and Political Institutions program at the Carnegie Moscow Center, discusses the elections results, some surprises in the presidential race and what comes next for Russia.
22. The Unz Review: Vladimir Brovkin, Vladimir the Savior. The Man Who Made Russia Great Again. (excerpt)
23. Bloomberg: Russia’s #MeToo Moment Turns Spotlight on Lawmakers.
24. Moskovsky Komsomolets: Mikhail Rostovsky, Up to 100 years: Old problems for Putin’s new term. Putin wins election triumphantly. What is next? (excerpt)
25. www.rt.com: Accusations and threats, but where are the facts? – Russia challenges West on truth.
26. The Guardian (UK): Mark Galeotti, Gangster’s paradise: how organised crime took over Russia. Under Vladimir Putin, gangsterism on the streets has given way to kleptocracy in the state.
27. Irrussianality: Paul Robinson, HOW NOT TO WRITE HISTORY. (re Timothy Snyder)
28. Russia Beyond: Tourist numbers in Russia reach record high.
29. The Nation: Ronald Katz, ‘Icarus’: Best Film Based on a Doping Scheme (but the Wrong One). The film makes a hero of an admitted wrongdoer.
30. The Nation: A Scandal. (letters re “Icarus” review)
31. Washington Post: Paul Sonne, The U.S. glimpses possible common ground with Russia.
32. CNBC.com: Danile DePetris, The US can’t ‘wish Putin away.’ It’s time to find common ground.
33. Rossiyskaya Gazeta: Sergei Karaganov, Preemptive Deterrence Strategy.
34. The American Conservative: Scott Ritter, No, Putin Isn’t Bluffing on Nukes. Trump says no one wants an arms race, but the Russians are already out of the gate.
35. RAND Corporation new publication: Getting Out from “In-Between.” Perspectives on the Regional Order in Post-Soviet Europe and Eurasia.
36. TASS: Kommersant: Strategic skepticism hangs over Moscow-Tokyo ties.
37. http://theduran.com: Seraphim Hanisch, Want to know who’s behind the Russia scandals? He’s right here. Fox News conducts an interview blissfully unaware of any need for burden of proof as Bill Browder establishes his propaganda line that Vladimir Putin is the source of all the world’s problems.
38. Wall Street Journal: Kimberley A. Strassel, Russia, the NRA and Fake News. Journalists propagate another wild tale from Fusion GPS’s Glenn Simpson.
39. Facebook: Michael McFaul, Trump’s Appeasement.
40. New York Times editorial: Why Is Trump So Afraid of Russia?
41. International Crisis Group: To Reunite Ukraine, Kyiv Must Overcome Its Own Prejudices. Four years after Russia’s invasion, psychological barriers are compounding the physical divisions of Ukraine. While many Ukrainians have turned to the West, millions of conflict-affected citizens are being excluded, creating new obstacles to any eventual reintegration of the country.
42. Kyiv Post: News media under assault, journalists murdered with impunity in nation.
43. Intellinews.com: Decentralisation is Poroshenko’s biggest reform success – poll.
44. Russiafeed.com: Matfey Shaheen, From Russian Prison to Ukrainian Jail – ‘Hero of Ukraine’ Nadia Savchenko arrested. Ukraine just arrested their ‘Joan of Arc’
45. Russia in Global Affairs: Sergey Karaganov, A New Epoch of Confrontation.