RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2019-8 :: Monday, 14 January 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#8 :: Monday, 14 January 2019
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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1. Kremlin.ru: Meeting on establishing cultural and educational centres in Russian regions.
2. Kremlin.ru: Meeting with President of Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Sergeyev.
3. Interfax: Holiday spending in Russia dips slightly year-on-year – poll.
4. www.rt.com: More than half of Russians want government to resign over growing prices – poll.
5. Bear Market Brief: Government’s ratings continue to fall. [link to archived copy of entire newsleter: mailchi.mp/6c216924cdb3/flat-rush-zombies?e=b96dba38fd]
6. Interfax: Medvedev hopes pact with oil cos to rein in prices will be honored.
7. The Irish Times: Geoffrey Roberts, War with Russia? A stern warning. Cohen sees the new cold war as much more dangerous than its predecessor.
8. Russia Beyond: Daniel Chalyan, OPINION: Why American media bubbles are worse than Russian ‘state-owned TV’ [rbth.com/lifestyle/329846-russia-america-opinion-media-propaganda]
9. Interfax: Russian Justice Ministry begins inspection of Memorial research center as foreign-agent NGO – Memorial.
10. Moscow Times: Maria Zheleznova, Is Russian Negligence More of a Threat Than Terrorism? In the wake of another tragedy, it’s worth asking what Russians themselves can do to prevent the next one.
11. Paul Goble: As Bad as Russian Roads are for Travel, Russia’s Waterways are Worse, Yemelchenkov Says.
12. Deutsche Welle: U.S. Ambassador Richard Grenell threatens German firms over Russian pipeline.
13. Financial Times: European businesses see no end to western sanctions against Russia. Companies delay investments after military tensions in Azov sea.
14. The National Interest: Michael Peck, The Russian Military’s Greatest Challenge Isn’t America. Think low salaries and declining living conditions.
15. Intellinews.com: Netflix paid a record $1mn for the rights to the Russian TV series “Better than People”
16. RFE/RL: World-Renowned Scientific University Quietly Untangles Itself From Russian Billionaire. (MIT and Viktor Vekselberg)
17. www.rt.com: ‘Hiring flat-Earther to teach geography’: Russiagater to lecture on ‘hybrid warfare’ at Georgetown. (Molly McKew) [rt.com/usa/448609-molly-mckew-georgetown-russophobia/] [See also: unz.com/akarlin/the-absolute-state-of-russia-studies-in-america/]
18. Wall Street Journal: Cold War Games: U.S. Is Preparing to Test the Waters in Icy Arctic. Navy explores expansion of operations in far North, going head-to head with rivals Russia and China.
19. Valdai Discussion Club: Yaroslav Lissovolik, The Global Integration Algorithm: Directing the Forces of Gravity. [valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-global-integration-algorithm/]
20. The National Interest: America’s Nightmare: The Sino-Russian Entente. The most dangerous threat to America “would be a grand coalition of China and Russia, united not by ideology, but by complementary grievance.” (report on meeting)
21. www.rt.com: Russia’s trade with China surges to more than $107 billion.
22. The Diplomat: Samuel Ramani, Russia and the Taliban: Talking With Terrorists. Moscow continues to designate the Taliban as a terrorist group, but at the same time has made consistent diplomatic contacts.
23. Russian International Affairs Council: Russia in the Balkans. [russiancouncil.ru/en/activity/digest/longreads/russia-in-the-balkans/]
24. Interfax: U.S. has no clear understanding of need to positively respond to Pyongyang’s steps on denuclearization – Russian Foreign Ministry.
25. Russia Matters: Do Trump’s Afghanistan Claims Mirror Moscow’s Rhetoric?
26. The Guardian (UK): The Secret Twenties by Timothy Phillips review – spies and the Bolshevik threat. A rewarding book, the product of years in the declassified archives of MI5, highlights errors and over-heightened suspicions on the part of British intelligence.
27. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, OPERATION INTEGRITY INITIATIVE – BRITISH INTELLIGENCE CELEBRATES A CENTURY OF RUSSIA LIES AND SELF-DECEPTION. (excerpt)
[johnhelmer.net/operation-integrity-initiative-british-intelligence-celebrates-a-century-of-russia-lies-and-self-deception/#more-20249]
28. New York Times: Peter Baker, Trump Confronts the Prospect of a ‘Nonstop Political War’ for Survival. “So it has come to this: The president of the United States was asked over the weekend whether he is a Russian agent. And he refused to directly answer.”
29. Politico.com: Strobe Talbott, It’s Already Collusion. We don’t need news reports to tell us that Trump is giving Putin what he wants. Take it from this longtime Russia hand: It’s staring us in the face.
30. Washington Post: Max Boot, Here are 18 reasons Trump could be a Russian asset.
31. Washington Post: Anne Applebaum, The Trump-Putin revelations tell us what we knew all along.
32. Twitter: Anders Aslund (Atlantic Council): Everything suggests that #Trump is #Putin’s agent: secret meetings, persistent public praise, undermining US foreign policy interests & alliances. The actual Kremlin payment can easily be done #offshore in anonymous companies as the #SteeleDossier suggested.
33. www.rt.com: WaPo recycles old Russiagate memes in latest gossip piece about Trump-Putin secret collusion. [rt.com/usa/448701-trump-putin-meeting-secret-wapo/]
34. Moon of Alabama: The Trump-Russia Scam – How Obama Enabled The FBI To Spy On Trump. [moonofalabama.org/2019/01/the-trump-russia-scam-how-obama-enabled-the-fbi-to-spy-on-trump.html]

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