Tag: Slider
NEWSLINK Forbes/Kenneth Rapoza: “Nearly Two Years Into Sanctions, Can Russia Live Without Europe?”
NEWSLINK Forbes/Tim Worstall: “Yes, Russia Is Poor–But It’s Not That Poor”
NEWSWATCH: “Will the Putin Regime Crumble? Foreign Affairs’ Brain Trust Weighs In.”- Foreign Affairs
… the May/June 2016 issue of Foreign Affairs … deals with Russia’s future. … we approached dozens of authorities with deep specialized expertise relevant to the question at hand, together with a few leading generalists …. Participants were asked to state whether they agreed or disagreed with a proposition and to rate their confidence level …. : Vladimir Putin will […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “‘But I love Russia, and I love Russians’; Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul speaks to Meduza”
First … it is true that the United States … from the very beginning, has had allies that are autocratic regimes. Our first … was France, a monarchy and a dictatorship. … Without the French, we would have lost the war against the British. … then there was the French Revolution, and there was a debate … about whether we […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics. Putin Returns to the Historical Pattern.” – Foreign Affairs/Stephen Kotkin
For half a millennium, Russian foreign policy has been characterized by soaring ambitions that have exceeded the country’s capabilities. Beginning with … Ivan the Terrible … Russia managed to expand at an average rate of 50 square miles per day for hundreds of years, eventually covering one-sixth of the earth’s landmass. * * * Throughout, the country has been haunted […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “An Earful for Vladimir Putin in Latest ‘Direct Line’ Call-In Show” – Wall Street Journal/Stephen Sestanovich
The discussion had a darker undercurrent. The system is rigged, many said, and those who have power abuse it. … Putin was asked why more political parties aren’t permitted so that United Russia faces some meaningful competition, and why … Kadyrov, Chechnya’s strongman leader, whom … Putin supports, is allowed to threaten political opponents with assassination. … Putin heard how […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Russia. Down But Not Out. Part I.” – Foreign Affairs/Maria Lipman, Sergei Guriev, Daniel Treisman, Katie Allawala
Over the past decade and a half, Vladimir Putin’s Russia has been an economic dynamo and a basket case, an imperfect democracy and a tightening tyranny, a constructive diplomatic actor and a serial military aggressor—sometimes all at once. The only constant has been surprise, as the zigging and zagging has left outside observers, and even many Russians, scratching their heads. […]
» Read moreNEWSWATCH: “Putin’s Russia: Down But Not Out.” – Foreign Affairs [issue table of contents with links]
Foreign Affairs foreignaffairs.com May/June 2016 issue Putin’s Russia Down But Not Out https://www.foreignaffairs.com/issues/2016/95/3 [There is limited access to free articles] Russia’s Perpetual Geopolitics Putin Returns to the Historical Pattern Stephen Kotkin Russian Politics Under Putin The System Will Outlast the Master Gleb Pavlovsky Russia’s Constrained Economy How the Kremlin Can Spur Growth Sergei Guriev The Revival of the Russian Military […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK Carnegie Moscow/Andrey Movchan: “What Would Economic Disintegration in Russia Look Like?”
Polish Minister Says Russia More Dangerous Than Islamic State
(RFE/RL – April 15, 2016) Poland’s foreign minister has said that Russia is an “existential threat” to European countries and is more dangerous than the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Speaking at a conference in Bratislava on April 15, Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski said “Russia’s activity is a sort of existential threat because this activity can destroy countries.” The migration […]
» Read morePutin Swears Off Stimulus as Policy Mix Moves Toward ‘Orthodoxy’
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Anna Andrianova – April 17, 2016) It was by no means the showstopper of President Vladimir Putin’s annual call-in with Russians, complete as it was with digs at the U.S. and justice dispensed on live television. Two days after Bank of Russia Governor Elvira Nabiullina urged reforms and warned against the “big illusion” of using inflation […]
» Read moreTRANSCRIPT: [Putin] Answers to journalists’ questions following the Direct Line
(Kremlin.ru – April 14, 2016) Vladimir Putin met with journalists and answered their questions following the Direct Line. Question: Was it not daunting to face so many serious problems and pressing questions? President of Russia Vladimir Putin: No. Question: Why do you say that? Vladimir Putin: This is my work, what my colleagues and I are expected to do. You […]
» Read moreWere the Panama Papers Planted? Who Cares.
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – April 15, 2016) Last week, a respected Russia scholar in the U.S. speculated that the Kremlin might be behind the so-called Panama Papers, the big dump of data about offshore accounts that has implicated several countries’ officials in shady dealings. And on Thursday, President Vladimir Putin of Russia blamed the U.S. for the […]
» Read moreFive foolproof ways to identify Russians on holiday abroad
I will not waste your time describing boring images of Russians squandering money and wearing tawdry outfits on vacations abroad. You have probably already read such tropes a million times. Here I’d like to discuss the not so obvious, but no less true, signs that a tourist is from Russia. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – ELENA POTAPOVA, RBTH […]
» Read moreInterfax: Less than half of Ukrainians support NATO membership – poll
(Interfax – April 16, 2016) Only 45% of the population support the idea of Ukraine’s joining NATO, as is seen from a public opinion poll. Asked how they would vote if a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to NATO were held today, 45% of those polled said they would vote in favor of NATO membership, 30% would vote against it, 16% […]
» Read moreFifteen Characteristics of Russian Propaganda
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 18, 2016) Russian propaganda makes use of so many techniques to succeed that Moscow novelist and commentator Elizaveta Aleksandrova-Zorina performs a useful service by listing in an article in “Gazeta.ru” 15 of its favorite and, it should be said, effective methods (gazeta.ru/comments/2016/04/14_a_8178095.shtml). These include: A black and white division of the […]
» Read moreBen Aris : JRL#71 response/Brian Whitmore
Subject: JRL#71 response/Brian Whitmore Date: Fri, 15 Apr 2016 From: Ben Aris <baris@bne.eu> (Ben Aris, editor-in-chief – bne IntelliNews – bne.eu) I would like to respond to item #9 in JRL #71 of April 15 “What I learned on Russian TV” by Brian Whitmore. I should do a ripose entitled “what I learned from reading this piece”, but I am […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-73 :: Monday, 18 April 2016
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#73 Monday, 18 April 2016 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 homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “New Russian Budget Rule to Be Based on $40-50/barrel Oil Price – Interfax” – Reuters
NEWSLINK Reuters: “New Russian Budget Rule to Be Based on $40-50/barrel Oil Price – Interfax”
NEWSLINK New York Times: “Russian Enclave Seen as a Fault Line of East-West Tensions” [Kaliningrad]
NEWSLINK Carnegie Moscow/Tatyana Stanovaya: “Putin, the Caring Candidate”
NEWSLINK Huffingtonpost/Jonathan Adelman: “Thinking the Unthinkable: Russia Has Re-Emerged As a Great Power”
NEWSLINK Kyiv Post: “IMF ready to continue supporting Ukraine”
NEWSLINK Brookings/Steven Pifer: “What Ukraine’s new prime minister is (and isn’t) likely to achieve”
NEWSLINK TASS: “Moscow to take steps to return Russians sentenced to prison terms in Ukraine – consul”
NEWSLINK Washington Post: “Ukraine’s president consolidates his control”
NEWSLINK New York Times: “The Next Chapter for Ukraine”
NEWSLINK AP: “Bolshoi’s New Director Promises the Best of Classical Ballet”
NEWSLINK TASS: “Form of cooperation between Kudrin, government suits both sides – Putin”
NEWSLINK: “Petro Poroshenko becomes focus of Ukraine’s disillusion” – Financial Times
Ford Mulls New Russia Investment as Quarterly Sales Jump 93%
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Andrey Lemeshko, Yuliya Fedorinova – April 14, 2016) Ford Motor Co., which spent more than $1.5 billion with a partner in the past five years to build cars and engine factories in Russia, is studying new investments in the country in a bet on economic recovery. The national car market could still become Europe’s biggest, and […]
» Read moreGovernment incomes: Abyzov pulls into first place in 2015
MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) – Open Government Affairs Minister Mikhail Abyzov, the only member of the government on the Forbes list of billionaires, pulled ahead of other members of the government in terms of income last year, thanks to a near doubling of his own earnings and a decline for his main competitor, Alexander Khloponin. Abyzov and his wife had […]
» Read moreFormer Finance Minister in Line for Top Position at Putin’s Think Tank
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anastasia Bazenkova – April 13, 2016) Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has been offered a senior position at Russia’s main think tank on economic policy and may participate in the development of a new economic strategy for the Kremlin. On Tuesday, Kudrin announced he would accept an offer to take a senior position at Russia’s […]
» Read moreWhat I Learned On Russian Television
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – The Daily Vertical: Brian Whitmore – April 15, 2016) I learned a lot more about the poor quality of Russian dairy products yesterday than I would care to know. I also learned that wages aren’t being paid, people can’t afford to buy medicine or pay utilities bills, that schools, kindergartens, and hospitals are being closed, that […]
» Read moreVIDEO & TRANSCRIPT: Direct Line with Vladimir Putin (transcript concluded)
(Kremlin.ru – April 14, 2016) Direct Line with Vladimir Putin was broadcast live on Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations. During the live broadcast that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, the President answered 80 questions out of the over 3 million that were received. [Video of complete broadcast with […]
» Read moreIn Ukraine, Expats and Romantics Are Out
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – April 15, 2016) The new Ukrainian cabinet, confirmed by the parliament on Thursday, is more interesting for the people it doesn’t include than for those it does. Ukraine’s experiment with bringing foreign reformers and private sector professionals into the government is now officially over, and it has failed. President Petro Poroshenko tapped his […]
» Read moreRUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-71 :: Friday, 15 April 2016
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#71 Friday, 15 April 2016 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 homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK TASS: “Putin confirms importance of waste recycling problem”
NEWSLINK: “The Secret U.S. Army Study That Targets Moscow. A quarter century after the Cold War, the Pentagon is worried about Russia’s military prowess again.” – Politico/Bryan Bender
NEWSLINK: “The Next Chapter for Ukraine” – New York Times
How Greed and Incompetence Put Russia’s Heritage at Risk
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ekaterina Motyakina – April 14, 2016) The Novodevichy convent is a rare glimpse of tranquility in Russia’s bustling capital. Perched on the banks of the Bolshoi Novodevichny Lake, the convent’s golden domes and soaring bell towers have given refuge to Moscow’s needy since the 16th century. When cultural and scientific agency UNESCO designated it a […]
» Read moreRussia’s in the red: As Russia’s personal debt crisis spirals out of control, collectors are turning to violence to ensure people pay on time. These stories aren’t for the fainthearted.
(opendemocracy.net – Sean Guillory – April 14, 2016) Sean Guillory lives in Pittsburgh, where he hosts the SRB podcast, a weekly podcast on Eurasian politics, history and culture, and blogs at seansrussiablog.org. You can follow him on Twitter @seansrussiablog. At this point, I should be numb to Russian horror stories. But several days ago, the following story struck a chord, […]
» Read morePutin doesn’t expect Western sanctions to be lifted soon, says Russia to keep countersanctions in place
MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin does not expect the Western sanctions to be lifted from Russia in the near future. “I don’t think our partners will decide to lift the restrictions and limitations from our country in the near future,” Putin said during a Q&A session on Thursday. “Even though the Minsk Agreements on southeastern Ukraine […]
» Read moreDirect Line with Vladimir Putin (partial transcript)
(Kremlin.ru – April 14, 2016) Direct Line with Vladimir Putin was broadcast live on Channel One, Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24 TV channels, and Mayak, Vesti FM and Radio Rossii radio stations. During the live broadcast that lasted 3 hours and 40 minutes, the President answered 80 questions out of the over 3 million that were received. Valeriya Korableva, reporter at Channel […]
» Read moreRussian State Duma hopeful about Groysman’s appointment as Ukrainian PM
MOSCOW. April 14 (Interfax) – The appointment of Volodymyr Groysman to the post of Ukraine’s prime minister gives hope that actual steps will be taken to implement the Minsk agreements, and that the level of tension in Russian-Ukrainian relations will decline, Russian State Duma Deputy Speaker Alexander Romanovich has said. “Groysman has a record of work at the regional level, […]
» Read moreNEWSLINK: “Groysman becomes Ukraine’s new prime minister, Parubiy takes over as speaker of parliament” – Kyiv Post
NEWSLINK: “Vladimir Putin Talks Foreign Policy, Everyday Problems in Televised Q&A Marathon.” – Wall Street Journal
RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2016-70 :: Thursday, 14 April 2016
Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2016-#70 Thursday, 14 April 2016 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 homepage: russialist.org – JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist – JRL on Twitter: @JohnsonRussiaLi Support for JRL is provided in part […]
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