RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents & links :: JRL 2020-#13 :: Monday, 20 January 2020
To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net
Support the JRL: russialist.org/funding.php
Donate Online: click here for direct link at GWU
[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter]
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2020-#13 :: Monday, 20 January 2020
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.
JRL Home: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi
Support for JRL is provided in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York to the George Washington University and by voluntary contributions from readers.
1. TASS: Prime minister has not yet submitted new government line-up to Putin.
2. AP: Russia’s Putin sends his constitutional proposals to Parliament
3. Sputnik: Putin Submits Draft Law on Amendments to Russian Constitution to State Duma.
4. TASS: No decisions on form and timeframe of vote on constitutional changes – Kremlin.
6. BMB Russia: “Rise in Optimism”
8. Meduza: Premier Technocrat. How Mikhail Mishustin made a career in politics outside Russia’s traditional clans.
https://meduza.io/en/feature/2020/01/17/premier-technocrat
9. Meduza: Putin replaces his attorney general.
https://meduza.io/en/news/2020/01/20/putin-replaces-his-attorney-general
10. Reuters: Despite shake-up, Putin rejects idea of Soviet-style leaders for life.
11. Reuters: Russian opposition wants big protest over Putin’s plan to ‘rule for ever’
12. Moscow Times: In Wake of Putin’s ‘Coup,’ Russia’s Top Opposition Leader Refrains From Action. Other opposition figures are planning a Feb. 29 march against the president’s proposed reforms that could keep him in power past 2024.
13. https://gilbertdoctorow.com: Gilbert Doctorow, Further thoughts: Vladimir Putin’s planned constitutional changes.
Further thoughts: Vladimir Putin’s planned constitutional changes
14. Moscow Times: Sergey Radchenko, Putin’s Changes Might Set Russia on the Right Path. Political centralization has historically served as a major impediment to Russia’s democratization.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/20/putins-changes-might-set-russia-on-the-right-path-a68937
15. Carnegie Moscow Center: Tatiana Stanovaya, Russia Prepares for New Tandemocracy. Putin’s proposed amendments to various roles amount to something resembling an insurance policy, which suggests that the president has already decided who his successor will be, though he may not name that person for another three years.
https://carnegie.ru/commentary/80838
16. OffGuardian: Kit Knightly, Russian Reforms: Is Putin planning for his successor? Curbs to Presidential power could be intended to preserve Russia from a West-backed President.
https://off-guardian.org/2020/01/18/russian-reforms-is-putin-planning-for-his-successor/
17. Global Times (China): Li Yonghui, Reforms dictate Russian president’s move to change PM.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1177313.shtml
18. Twitter: Robert Person, Speculation on Putin’s future in Russian politics.
19. Sunday Times (UK): Marc Bennetts, Russia: Putin is consolidating his power. The ex-KGB officer has shown he does not plan to let go of the reins in 2024.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/russia-putin-is-consolidating-his-power-0bvn9b7hm
20. New York Times editorial: Putin the Immortal. The Russian leader is maneuvering to stay in power indefinitely. Why stop there?
21. Wall Street Journal: Thomas Grove, Russia’s Rise on the Global Stage. Putin’s aggressive foreign policy does little to help the economy.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russias-rise-on-the-global-stage-11579462383?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=6
22. Moscow Times: Jake Cordell, New Russian Prime Minister Is No Stranger to Business Community. Investors say he will promote digitization, while critics claim he has taken credit for natural progression.
23. Forbes.com: Kenneth Rapoza, Russia’s New Prime Minister Wants Cryptocurrency To Be Taxed.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2020/01/17/russias-new-prime-minister-wants-cryptocurrency-to-be-taxed/#5125080c79ba
24. Moscow Times: Fading Sanctions Fears Lead to FDI Rebound. Investment into Russia leapt five-fold in 2019 as investors acclimatized to U.S. sanctions.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/20/fading-sanctions-fears-fdi-rebound-a68963
25. Sputnik: ‘Kissinger’s Nightmare’: How Russo-Chinese Arctic Cooperation May Upset US Control Over the Sea – sputniknews.com/analysis/202001201078085953-kissingers-nightmare-how-russo-chinese-arctic-cooperation-may-upset-us-control-over-the-sea/
26. Washington Post: Carol Morello, A new U.S. ambassador arrives in Moscow at a tricky time in U.S.-Russia relations.
27. www.rt.com: ‘Detailed proposals for Libyans to take up’: Roadmap for settling every field of Libya war agreed in Berlin, Lavrov says – rt.com/news/478651-lavrov-reporters-berlin-talks/
28. The Hill: Marik von Rennenkampff, Let’s stop revising history: Reagan didn’t win the Cold War.
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/478941-lets-stop-revising-history-reagan-didnt-win-the-cold-war
29. High North News (Norway): Amund Trellevik, Why War History is Increasingly Important for Russia. Through associating with the victors of WW2, the current authorities secure their legitimacy. War history has become an increasingly important tool for political stability, for the “patriotic raising” of young people, and as a joint idea for uniting the people.
https://www.highnorthnews.com/en/why-war-history-increasingly-important-russia
30. The Unz Review: Anatoly Karlin, Towards a Russian Politics of Memory – unz.com/akarlin/towards-a-russian-politics-of-memory/
31. Moscow Times: ‘We Are Building Capitalism!’ Robert Stephenson on Moscow in Transition 1992-1997.
[https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2020/01/18/we-are-building-capitalism-a68914][Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Are-Building-Capitalism-Transition-1992-1997/dp/191289419X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=We+are+building+capitalism&qid=1579531658&sr=8-1]
[https://glagoslav.com/shop/we-are-building-capitalism-moscow-in-transition-1992-1997/]
32. Intellinews.com: What lies behind oligarch impunity in Ukraine.
https://intellinews.com/alaco-dispatches-what-lies-behind-oligarch-impunity-in-ukraine-174892/?source=ukraine
33. TASS: Top Russian diplomat draws parallels between investigations of MH17 crash, Skripal case.
34. The Blog Mire: Rob Slane, New Thread: Questions for Mr Ridley. (re Skripals)
35. Dances With Bears: John Helmer, SKRIPAL SCOOP – BBC PASSED MI6 LIES TO BELLINGCAT AND THEN REPORTED BELLINGCAT CLAIMS AS TRUTH – johnhelmer.net/skripal-scoop-bbc-passed-mi6-lies-to-bellingcat-and-then-reported-bellingcat-claims-as-truth/print/
36. Consortiumnews.com: Part Two of ‘UkraineGate – Inconvenient Facts’
37. www.strategic-culture.org: Daniel Lazare, Bernie Sanders Walks Straight Into the Russiagate Trap.
