Sunday, November 25, 2012

Ariel Cohen: "The Russians have an agenda that brings them into friction with the United States." | "Владимир Путин предложил новому составу СПЧ сделку: вы в рамках дозволенного говорите о проблемах, а я делаю что хочу. Фактически это было предложение войти в карманное гражданское общество. И оно было принято: никто из СПЧ не вышел." - Лилия Шевцова | - Russia News Review - 11.25.12


Russia News Review - 11.25.12

via Johnson's Russia List's Facebook Wall by Johnson's Russia List on 11/24/12

Oboronservice case is biggest recent corruption scandal in Russia – poll
russialist.org
MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) – The Oboronservice case and the consequent dismissal of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov are the most high-profile corruption scandals Russia has had lately, sociologists told Interfax on Thursday. Seventy-two percent of Russians know about it, they said.
 
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via Russian Politics - Российская Политика's Facebook Wall by Russian Politics - Российская Политика on 11/23/12
Покорить Интернет Путин уже не сможет: время упущено - KM.RU


Покорить Интернет Путин уже не сможет: время упущено - KM.RU
KM.RUПокорить Интернет Путин уже не сможет: время упущеноKM.RUДо сих пор главным симпатизантом Интернета среди самой верхушки российского руководства числился нынешний премьер-министр Дмитрий Медведев, в то время как «старший по тандему» президент Владимир Путин никак особо не проявлял своего отношения к сему изобретению.Пресса России: Путин хочет управлять интернетом?BBC Russian"Креативный класс" засомневался в идее Путина помочь миллионами в интернете: "Кто платит, тот и заказывает"NEWSru.comПутин недоволен тем, как реализуются "дорожные карты" АСИРИА НовостиМосковский комсомолец -RosInvest.Com -РБК - RBC.RuВсе похожие статьи: 196 »
 
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via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty on 11/25/12
RFE/RL correspondent Robert Coalson spoke recently with Ariel Cohen, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C.

Ariel Cohen: The Russians have an agenda that brings them into friction with the United States.
...

Having come back from Russia recently, I would say that the Russian leadership is not putting forward a comprehensive and coherent program of cooperation with the United States. There are small things that they point out, such as the visa regime that has been improved by an agreement between [U.S.] Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton and [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergei] Lavrov. But overall after Russia received U.S. approval for joining the WTO, there is no major, positive list of priorities. It is all criticism; it is all negative. And this is very disappointing. Because, after all, the Russians need to develop their economy, especially beyond oil and gas. And the United States could provide a lot of assistance in terms of investment, in terms of developing the lagging Russian health-care sector, etc. So, I would say that both sides should be working harder to come up with a positive priority agenda.
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Cohen: If you go back over 100 years in history you find that in the late stages of the Romanov empire -- the last quarter of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century -- the regime was nationalistic and xenophobic. It was nationalistic and xenophobic, for example, compared to the more liberal regime under Aleksandr II, because it felt insecure. So, yes, there is a strong domestic dimension of anti-Americanism. It is to consolidate the society, to create what is called in Russian "vneshny vrag," the external enemy, and to boost the prestige of the intelligence services, of the military, of the state, of the commander-in-chief -- the president. That is, indeed, a means to legitimize the current regime that feels, somewhat, weakened in terms of its popular legitimacy because it needed to take extreme measures to create an impression that the ruling party was legitimately elected to the Duma in the December [2011] elections.

Ariel Cohen
 
​​​​But there is also a deep-seated suspicion and dislike of America for the rulers who come from the Soviet intelligence services and, unfortunately, believe their own propaganda. There is very little competition in terms of sources of information, in terms of competing world views in Russia today -- even in comparison with the 1990s. There is one world view that is fed by the intelligence services and anti-Western -- what they call anti-liberal -- and anti-American values play a very significant role.
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But beyond that, what Russia needs and what Russia wants, the U.S. is not standing in its way. The tragedy is that there is part of the elite that thinks that in order to consolidate its power in Russia they need an external enemy and such an enemy can only be the largest superpower in the world. So this is really a hiccup from the Cold War. It's a mentality that does not take into account the realities of the 21st century -- or the real threats to Russia, such as economic underperformance, corruption, crime, and religious extremism in the North Caucasus and elsewhere in the Russian Federation.
 
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via The Moscow Times Top Stories by Combined Reports <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 11/24/12
Physicist Valentin Danilov, convicted of spying for China in 2004, has been released on parole and is continuing to protest his innocence.


via Russia - Google News on 11/25/12

Kyiv Post










Freed scientist finds little change or hope in Russia
Reuters
KRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) - Grey, pale and thin, Valentin Danilov has changed more than the country that jailed him in 2004 for selling state secrets to China. The 66-year-old Russian physicist, whose face is now criss-crossed with deep wrinkles, ...
Russia frees scientist jailed under Putin for spyingBusiness Recorder (blog)
Russia frees physicist convicted of spying for ChinaAhram Online
Imprisoned Russian Scientist Walks FreeRIA Novosti
Kyiv Post
all 231 news articles »

 
 
 

via Russia News Headlines - Yahoo! News on 11/25/12
Russian physicist Danilov arrives for a news conference in Russia's Siberian city of KrasnoyarskKRASNOYARSK, Russia (Reuters) - Grey, pale and thin, Valentin Danilov has changed more than the country that jailed him in 2004 for selling state secrets to China. The 66-year-old Russian physicist, whose face is now criss-crossed with deep wrinkles, could not be blamed for suffering from "deja vu" when he was released on Saturday from a Siberian penal colony on spying charges he says were politically motivated. ...

 
Russian Weapons Designer Shot Dead A senior weapons designer at a Russian weapons factory south of Moscow has been shot dead. The killing comes against a backdrop of scandal in the defense industry that cost a defense minister his job earlier this month. More
 

via Russia - Google News on 11/24/12

LGBTQ Nation










Russian court dismisses lawsuit against Madonna for promoting homosexuality
LGBTQ Nation
The claimants argued that Madonna's performance would adversely affect Russia's birthrate and therefore its ability to maintain a proper army. They cited posts on the Facebook page condemning the law as proof she had prior knowledge of the potential ...
Lawsuit against Madonna dismissed in RussiaChicago Sun-Times
Lawsuit against Madonna for promoting gay rights in Russia is dismissedNME.com
Russia: St. Petersburg court throws out homosexuality suit against MadonnaGlobalPost (blog)
Examiner.com
all 483 news articles »

via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty on 11/24/12
Russia’s Interior Ministry has given the green light for the creation of a special experimental Daghestani battalion, which will be the destination for some of the young men drafted into the Russian armed forces from that republic this fall.

via Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty on 11/25/12
Iran says the deployment of NATO defense missiles near Turkey's border with Syria will raise tensions over the Syria crisis.

via The Moscow Times Top Stories by The Moscow Times <moscowtimes@themoscowtimes.com> on 11/24/12
The opposition's Coordination Council has announced plans for a march and rally to be held in central Moscow on Dec. 15, a date chosen to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the anti-Kremlin protest movement.

via Russia - Google News on 11/25/12

BBC News










Russian tycoon Alexander Lebedev 'expects jail' over punch-up
BBC News
Russian media mogul Alexander Lebedev thinks he "probably will" be jailed in Russia over a punch-up live on TV last year, his son has told the BBC. Evgeny Lebedev said he feared his father could be killed in jail because of his anti-corruption campaign.
Tycoon Lebedev Expects Prison Over TV Brawl Says SonRIA Novosti
Evening Standard owner Alexander Lebedev 'would be murdered in jail'Telegraph.co.uk

all 6 news articles »

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