RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2019-#114 :: Thursday, 18 July 2019

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Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2019-#114 :: Thursday, 18 July 2019
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1. Christian Science Monitor: Fred Weir, Moldova shows Russia and the West can work together. Can they do it again? Did you hear the one about the time the West and Russia cooperated? That’s not a joke, actually. It just happened in Eastern Europe, with both teaming up to topple a corrupt oligarch in an overlooked story.
2. Carnegie Moscow Center: Dmitri Trenin, Russia’s Changing Identity: In Search of a Role in the 21st Century. Russia’s brand of exceptionalism is not messianic. It is rooted in the isolation of an Orthodox country and its belief that it possesses the gift of a true religious faith. It has been strengthened by Russia’s successful-if costly-defense of its state sovereignty, and confirmed by Russia’s status as a major global player that refuses to take orders from anyone. – carnegie.ru/commentary/79521
3. Russian International Affairs Council: Andrey Kortunov, China, Russia and US define world order. – russiancouncil.ru/en/analytics-and-comments/comments/china-russia-and-us-define-world-order/
4. Bloomberg: Kremlin Opens Door to Changing Constitution as Succession Looms.
5. Bear Market Blog: Protests in Moscow.
6. Meduza: It’s been more than a month since Ivan Golunov was framed, charged, and released. What’s happened to his story since?
7. Postsocialism: Jeremy Morris, Why do 66% of Russians regret the collapse of the USSR? – postsocialism.org/2019/02/19/why-do-66-of-russians-regret-the-collapse-of-the-ussr/
8. www.rt.com: Russia seeks to regain space glory with ambitious project & restoration of Soviet infrastructure. – rt.com/russia/464421-spektr-telescope-russia-crimea-space/
9. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with the newspaper Argumenty i Fakty published on July 17, 2019. (excerpt) – mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/3728033
10. Interfax: Russian envoy urges U.S., NATO countries to store nukes only in own territories, like Russia does.
11. www.rt.com: Darius Shahtahmasebi, The Pentagon’s new nuclear doctrine is scary as hell. 12. Carnegie Moscow Center: Sergei Khestanov, Playing the Long Game: United States Targets Russia’s Sovereign Debt. Financial sanctions that limit Russia’s borrowing are for now ineffective, as Russia currently has three surpluses: in the federal budget, balance of trade, and current account. The Russian state and most Russian business (at least the kind of business that could in theory raise…. – rt.com/op-ed/464467-nuclear-weapons-doctrine-american/
12. Carnegie Moscow Center: Sergei Khestanov, Playing the Long Game: United States Targets Russia’s Sovereign Debt. Financial sanctions that limit Russia’s borrowing are for now ineffective, as Russia currently has three surpluses: in the federal budget, balance of trade, and current account. The Russian state and most Russian business (at least the kind of business that could in theory raise investment abroad) simply don’t need major credit lines. – carnegie.ru/commentary/79529
13. Valdai Discussion Club: Ivan Timofeev, Sherman Amendment: Tilting at Windmills? The adoption of an amendment to the defense budget for 2020 by the US House of Representatives provoked a public outcry in Russia. The amendment, introduced by Brad Sherman (D), is to prohibit buying of the Russian sovereign debt in retaliation for meddling in US elections. Many Russian media outlets carried alarmist or even panicky headlines. Indeed, the amendment is far from being good news, like any …. – valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/sherman-amendment-tilting-at-windmills/
14. Russia in Global Affairs: Maxim Sushkov, Russia eyes big picture with S-400 sale to Turkey. – eng.globalaffairs.ru/book/Russia-eyes-big-picture-with-S-400-sale-to-Turkey-20106
15. South Front: CENTRAL ASIA’S RACE AGAINST TIME – southfront.org/central-asias-race-against-time/
17. TASS: Izvestia: Russia and Georgia ready to mend relations.
18. Moscow Times: Russia, Ukraine Agree ‘Comprehensive’ Cease-Fire in Donbass.
19. RFE/RL: As Soldiers Disengage, ‘Fragile Hope’ For Peace Appears In One Front-Line Ukrainian Town.
20. AP: Ukraine Election: President’s Party Leads, Majority Unclear.
21. Reuters: Ukraine’s Russian-speaking president gives glimmer of hope to war-torn east.
22. Reuters: Ukraine Agrees Prisoner Swap With Pro-Russian Separatists-Official.
23. Intellinews.com: Russia’s president eases path to citizenship for all residents of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk regions.
24. www.rt.com: Issuing Russian passports to eastern Ukrainian residents purely humanitarian act – Lavrov.
25. Spiked (UK): Seeing Russia everywhere. Liberal paranoia about Brexit and Trump has dark echoes of past Red Scares.
26. The Nation: Stephen Cohen, Who’s Afraid of William Barr? Liberals and other Democrats seem to want to cover up the CIA’s role in Russiagate.
27. The National Interest: Lyle Goldstein, The Ripple Effect from Reagan’s ‘Economic War’ on the USSR. This is what a Chinese researcher discovered after investigating the historical precedent for Washington’s trade conflict with Beijing.
28. Russia Beyond: Daniel Chalyan, OPINION: Sex-addicted Russia still has a HUGE problem with sex. – rbth.com/lifestyle/330677-russia-sex-god-porn-relationships
29. www.rt.com: AgeChallenge is a ‘Russian’ spying plot? Media reports feed conspiracy frenzy. – rt.com/news/464423-age-challenge-russian-plot/
30. Russia Beyond: What are the actual dangers of the Russian FaceApp to your privacy?
Full text with graphics https://www.rbth.com/science-and-tech/330684-russian-faceapp-your-privacy
31. Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Comment by the Information and Press Department on five years since MH17 crash. – mid.ru/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/3728225
32. Asia Times: Nile Bowie, After the crash, information wars inflame MH17. Conflicted narratives and contested facts mean no near-term justice or closure for what may be the most politicized aviation disaster in history. (part 2)