Powered By Blogger

06 January, 2017



✔ Baltic states are NOT 'ex-Soviet’ republics - Baltic Times

✔ Narva Prospers While Russia’s Ivangorod Decays  - Paul Goble

✔ Aastalõpu Intervjuu: President Kersti Kaljulaid  - ERR 

✔ - US Special Forces deployed in Baltic states - New York Times

- Foto:




_________________

Friday 6. Jan. 2017
_________________


- Baltic states are NOT 'ex-Soviet' republics
(The Baltic Times | Latvian Broadcasting)
"Ambassadors of the three Baltic states have asked the German media to stop referring to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia to as former Soviet republics. The Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said the address had been inspired by the Soviet Legacy column on the German news portal ZEIT ONLINE. According to the ministry, the portal responded to the remark, pledging to stop using the concept that is inaccurate in the sense of international law."
—
--


- Osa USA sõjatehnikast on jõudnud Saksamaale
(ERR)
"Esialgu oli plaanis, et sõjaväelased saabuvad jaanuari lõpus, kuid USA ametist lahkuv president Barack Obama kiirendas protsessi, et 20. jaanuaril ametisse astuv Donald Trump seda peatada ei saaks."



- Rakverre tuleb Arvo Pärdi nimeline kontserdimaja
(Postimees)
"Virumaa Muuseumid näituste ala ning Rakvere Pauluse kiriku hoone renoveeritakse multifunktsionaalseks Arvo Pärdi nimeliseks kontserdimajaks ja kultuurikeskuseks."



- Intervjuu: Garri Kasparov
(Postimees)



- Finland's Brain Drain: Research Groups Now Moving Abroad
(Yle)
"Cuts to universities and state-funded research centres are contributing to growing brain drain from Finland and increasing unemployment among the highly educated …"



- Why Ukraine celebrates Christmas on 7. January
(Euromaidan Press)



- Moscow Lacks a Plan to Ensure Kaliningrad Oblast’s Security
(Window on Eurasia)
"The Regnum news agency has often taken a harder line on issues on the Baltic region than have Moscow and its representatives on the scene, but this editorial is unusual in its tone and direct criticism of the powers that be locally and at the center.  That suggests that far more than the editors of one Russian news portal are worried about what is happening in Kaliningrad."




_________________

Thursday 5. Jan. 2017

_________________


- Review: Estonian national museum - 
touching and revealing
(The Guardian)
“The Estonian National Museum is not a usual sort of institution. Its past is wrapped up with that of the country itself. Now it somehow has to represent the complex and precarious history of Estonia, in a fraught present, with a combination of pride and sensitivity."



- Unease in the Baltics as US allies watch Trump praise Putin
(PRI)



- Leo Kunnas kirjutas raamatu tulevikusõjast Venemaaga
(Postimees)
"26. september 2023. Kell 08.51 lõpevad õppused «Zapad» ja algab sõda, milleks Venemaa on järjekindlalt ning hoolikalt valmistunud ligi poolteist aastakümmet. Nii algab kolonelleitnant Leo Kunnase värskeim teos «Sõda 2023. Taavet ja Koljat», mis jõudis raamatupoodidesse vahetult enne jõuluaega."
--
(Rahva Raamatupood)



- Two New Estonian Novels Consider Two Very Different Outcomes of a War with Russia
(Paul Goble)
"The two novels, “David” and “Goliath,” are both devoted to what (Leo) Kunnas describes as “an upcoming war” in 2023 between Russia and the West, with the former postulating a victory by the West and the latter a defeat."



- Opinion: How Estonia can save Western civilization
(The Hill)



- Russian President confirms summer 2017 visit to Finland
(Yle)
“… to celebrate Finland’s 100-year anniversary of independence."





_________________

Wednesday 4. Jan. 2017
_________________


- US Special Forces deployed in Baltic states
(The Baltic Times)
—
- U.S. Lending Support to Baltic States Fearing Russia
(New York Times)
"The deployment of about a dozen American Special Operations forces to each of the Baltic States is a piece of the larger allied military strategy to deter any future Russian aggression. Embedded with their Baltic counterparts, the American commandos augment intelligence-gathering and other assessments by the Central Intelligence Agency and American diplomats on the threat posed by Russian activities.”
—
“Do the Russians know we’re there?” General Thomas said. “Yes.”
--
- Kas USA eriväelased on Eestis? Jah, ilmselt on nad siin üsna tihti 
(Delfi)



- Russia Wants a Reset With NATO
(Foreign Policy | Moscow Times)
“I think a statement like this is strategically timed just weeks before Trump takes office,” said Rachel Rizzo, a NATO expert at the Center for New American Security. “Russia wants to make it sound like they’re ready to rebuild normal relations with NATO, they’ve just been waiting for the West to meet them halfway.”
—
“We need to build normal relations with NATO and renew what we had before,” Andrei Kelin, the Foreign Ministry’s head of the Department of European Cooperation, told Interfax. Many countries are NATO members because it is economically and politically profitable, allowing them to save money that would otherwise be spent on maintaining a full army, Kelin said. Such logic is particularly important for smaller countries, he added."
--
"… it is impossible to convince member states that they should leave NATO,” Kelin concluded, because their membership is based upon “purely rational reasons.”



- NATO: Russian Aircraft Intercepted 110 Times Above Baltic in 2016
(Newsweek)



- Like the sound of 10-gigabit internet everywhere? Then move to Estonia
(ZDNET)





_________________

Tuesday 3. Jan. 2017
_________________


- A Tale of Two Cities: Estonia’s Narva Prospering While Russia’s Ivangorod Decays
(Paul Goble)
“… ethnic Russians in Narva, a city in a NATO country, are doing far better than the ethnic Russians in the Russian Federation currently ruled by Putin … just across the Narva River in Ivangorod, Russia, the situation is very different. Incomes are stagnating or falling for its 10,000 residents. The city has fewer resources than before to provide social services because of cutbacks in Moscow’s transfer payments. And the prospects for the future are anything but bright."
--
  "Russians clearly recognize this: There is currently a two-kilometer line of cars leaving Russia and seeking entry into Estonia for the holidays; there is no such line of cars leaving Estonia and seeking entry into Russia."



- John McCain & Co’s Magical Mystery Tour of Russia’s Front Line
(The Daily Beast)
"John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and Amy Klobuchar traveled from the Baltic to the Black Sea confronting Putin—and Trump."
—
- McCain Says US Troops Should Stay Permanently In Estonia
(Washington Post | Daily Caller)
--
--
- NATO’s Jittery Baltic Members Move to Beef Up Own Defense
(Wall Street Journal - subscription)



- To counter fake news, Germany should look to Eastern Europe
(CEPA)
"Fake news is stale news in the frontline states. Even back in the early 1990s, Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians were used to alarmist nonsense appearing on Russian television."
—






_________________

Monday 2. Jan. 2017
_________________





- US senators praise Ukrainian marines, slam Putin
(Politico-Europe)



- Norway, an Exemplar of NATO Burden-Sharing
(Foreign Affairs)



- Warning of 'collapse' of buildings in Siberia's permafrost cities in next 35 years
(Siberian Times | Window on Eurasia)
—





_________________

Sunday 1. Jan. 2017
_________________


- Estonia A Global Human Rights Leader With Magnitsky Law
(World Affairs Journal | UpNorth)
“… at a conference held on the eve of International Human Rights Day, Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid signed a law—unanimously passed by the country’s parliament—providing for the denial of visas “if there is information or good reason to believe that the alien has participated in or contributed to the violation of human rights in a foreign state, which has resulted in the death, serious physical harm or unfounded conviction of a person for a crime for political motives, or some other serious consequences.”
—
“Estonia (is) the first country in Europe to adopt such provisions.”
(President Kaljulaid Press Release)
—
"In a unprecedented vote, 90-0 unanimously in favour of the Magnitsky Amendment, Estonia became the first nation in the world to adopt this global human rights tool that creates real consequences for repressive government agents."



✔ Aastalõpu Intervjuu: President Kaljulaid
(ERR)
—
✔ End-of-year Interview: President Kaljulaid
(ERR)
--
- Kersti Kaljulaid uusaastatervituses
(Postimees)
—
- President Kersti Kaljulaid’s New Year Address
(Postimees)










_________________

- Russia | Putin-
“Trust No One"
_________________


- Russia begins military drawdown in Syria
(Deutsche Welle | BBC)
—
—
- Venemaa alustas vägede väljatoomist Süüriast
(ERR)
—
"Beleaguered Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov … begins its transition on Friday and is headed toward the Russian port of Severomorsk, a town in the Murmansk region where Russia's Northern Fleet is headquartered.”
(Moscow Times)



- Putin and the Populists
(The Atlantic)
"The roots of Russia's political appeal in Europe and the United States."



- Digging Up My Grandfather’s Killers: A Journey Through the Stalinist Archives
(Carnegie Moscow Center)
"I was able to read the secret police files of my grandfather, who died in the Russian gulag in 1946, and then cross-reference the names of the men who persecuted him in the new database published by Memorial. Russia’s grandsons need to confront the truth about what their grandfathers did—but the Russian state would prefer its people to live with historical amnesia."



- Putin’s real long game
(Politico-Europe)

"A renewed approach to dealing with Putin’s Russia should begin by addressing the tactics of Russia’s new warfare from the perspective of strength."
--
"We have to accept we’re in a war and that we have a lot to lose."



- Putin’s Revenge
(Politico Magazine)
"Humiliated by the 1990s, Russia’sstrongman is determined to win ColdWar 2.0. He may be succeeding."



- Russia Resurgent
(Slate)
"Against all expectation, relations with Russia have dominated the Obama administration’s foreign policy, right up through last week, when the president issued sweeping sanctions, in retaliation for Russia’s election meddling, that belied the blithe tone of his previous remarks. Relations with the renascent superpower are likely to dominate the next president’s term as well—in ways we’re only beginning to fathom."



- A Trump-Putin Deal on Crimea Could Trigger a Much Bigger War
(Window on Eurasia)
 "That would be a tragedy for Ukraine ... but a far greater tragedy would likely emerge from how Putin would read such a deal, as an indication that the West is not ready to stand up to him and that he can engage in more aggression with impunity."



- Is Putin’s Master Plan Only Beginning?
(Vanity Fair)
"With three consequential European elections occurring in 2017, the former K.G.B. officer has more potential to undermine free societies than he could have ever fathomed during his Cold War days."



- Putin won 2016, but Russia has its limits as a superpower
(The Washington Post)



- Putin Touts 'New Integraton' Of Former Soviet States On Economy, Defense
(RFERL)
"The presidents of Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan were in St. Petersburg for the meetings, which included informal summits of the Eurasian Economic Union and Collective Security Treaty Organization."



- The GRU: Putin’s No-Longer-So-Secret Weapon
(The Daily Beast)



- Russia Fell Apart When Its Leaders Overrated Its Strength and That Could Happen Again
(Window on Eurasia)
 “… Russia “just like a century ago is meeting a new year imaging itself as surrounded by enemies – and as Petersburg then hadn’t yet been renamed Petrograd, one feels that such the suggestion of a parallel is no accident.” But if history is repeating itself, it will be “not as a tragedy but as a farce,” although just how much of one remains to be seen."





- The Soviet Union Is Gone, But It’s Still Collapsing
(Foreign Policy)
--
- The USSR ceased to exist 25 years ago and the Russians are still reinventing themselves
(PRI)
“… most Russians met the occasion with a collective shrug."
—
- Russia: Fall and rise in 25 years
(BBC)
—
- Why do so many people miss the Soviet Union?
(The Washington Post)
—
- Why are there no Russian feature films on the dissolution of the USSR?
(The Calvert Journal)

_________
_____
__












Posted by at

26 December, 2016


History: While putting together a recent EstoNews newsletter I stumbled across an interesting webpage in the National Security Archives quite by accident. It presented a now-declassified list of nuclear targets within the USSR. Logically I knew that sites within Eesti might have been targeted, but it was a bit shocking to actually read each town and city name. The list, which was at one point top secret, was released to the public on 22. December 2015. 
Each page is labelled ‘Declassified - Authority NNO-75573’. 
- U.S. Cold War Nuclear Target List
National Security Archives
George Washington University

 22. December 2015

 "The SAC [Strategic Air Command] Atomic Weapons Requirements Study for 1959, produced in June 1956 ... provides the most comprehensive and detailed list of nuclear targets and target systems that has ever been declassified. As far as can be told, no comparable document has ever been declassified for any period of Cold War history.” 
——
"SAC laid out the numbers and types of nuclear weapons required to destroy each DGZ [Designated Ground Zeros]. The nuclear weapons information is completely excised from the report making it impossible to know how many weapons SAC believed were necessary to destroy the various targets. In any event, SAC could anticipate a very large stockpile of nuclear weapons by 1959 to target priority objectives. This was a period when the nuclear weapons stockpile was reaching large numbers, from over 2400 in calendar 1955 to over 12,000 in calendar 1959 and reaching 22,229 in 1961.” 
——
"Heavily-targeted Eastern European cities revealed in the list include Berlin; Bucharest; Budapest; Dresden; Leipzig; Riga; Sofia; Tallinn; Tbilisi; Vilnius; Warsaw; and Wrocław (Breslau).” 
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb538-Cold-War-Nuclear-Target-List-Declassified-First-Ever/
The following are screenshots of six pages from the Strategic Air Command Atomic Weapons Requirements Study of 1959. Targets in Estonia are circled in red.







________
____
__
Posted by at

16 December, 2016


✔ 89% of Estonians support NATO membership  (Estonian World)

✔ U.S. Military Completes $11.2 Million Face-Lift in Tapa (ABCNews)

✔ Navalny Annnounces He Will Seek Russian Presidency  (RFERL)

✔ Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave, President Obama said of recent GOP praise of Russia (CNN)

- Foto:


_________________

Friday
16. December
 _________________


- View from Estonia: Flaky Friends and a Neighbour from Hell
(Prospect Magazine - Uk)
"They rooted for Hillary Clinton, and expected her to win. If America saw her as lacking in warmth, in the Baltics she displayed a crowd-pleasing touch - thrilling the locals with her embrace of folk dance, and reportedly outlasting John McCain in a vodka-drinking contest on an official trip to Estonia.”
—
"The hope was that Madam President would echo Barack Obama’s vow: that the defence of the Baltic capitals Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius was “just as important” as that of London, Paris and Berlin. “You’ve lost your independence before,” Obama told a rapturous audience in Tallinn in 2014. “With Nato, you’ll never lose it again!” What a contrast with Trump, who suggested Nato was “obsolete” until its members paid more for their defence. He’s backpedalled somewhat, but his expressions of admiration for Vladimir Putin have left officials here aghast."
--
- U.S. Politics: For Russia, more love
(Politico-Europe)
"Republican sympathies for Putin and his homeland are rising. … While some Republicans in Congress have slammed the Russian strongman and called for investigations into the Kremlin’s attempts to influence the election, the party’s voters are increasingly fond of Putin."
--
"The dramatic shift in sentiment - for a party that once defined itself by its staunch opposition to the Soviet Union - comes as President-elect Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to criticize Putin and signaled a different tone with Russia policy.”
--
“The Republican base, particularly the Trump part of the Republican base, is going to regard anyone and anything that helped their great leader to win as a positive force, or at least a less negative force.”



- Finland, the Baltic states, and security
(Diplomaatia via Estonian World)
"The Baltic states’ applications for NATO membership came as a surprise to Finland, but when accession was completed in 2004, opinions subsided. … Finland was happy with the development of its near neighborhood. The government’s security reports in 2004 and 2009 stated that the enlargement of the EU and NATO, as well as political and economic changes in Russia, had stabilized the situation in the region around Finland.”
—
"It is also important to bear in mind that a crisis in the Baltic Sea region would inevitably affect Finland’s position and security one way or another. Isolation would not be possible, but history and geography would undoubtedly influence Finland’s choices in a Baltic Sea crisis. Finland must be prepared for being attacked itself." 



✔ Logging lobby eating into Estonian forests
(Postimees | ERR)
"The past nearly ten years have been triumphant for the timber industry – donations to political parties and acquaintances in the Ministry of the Environment have helped render the forest act gradually more ax friendly. New relief is already in the pipeline."
—
✔ Metsakaitsjad avaldasid keskkonnaministeeriumi ees meelt
—
✔ Environmentalists protest against Estonia's state forestry policy
--



- Belarus: Trump in the White House and Russia’s Neighbors Back in the USSR?
(The Daily Beast - Anna Nemtsova)
“After Trump’s victory, President Putin was in a great mood, and even joked to kids at a recent event linked to the study of geography: “Russia’s borders don’t end anywhere,” he said, chortling. But in Belarus, they’re not laughing."





_________________

Thursday
15. December
_________________


- Mida Venemaal Eestist arvatakse?
(Postimees)
"Kuna televisioon on Venemaal põhiline infokanal, võib neid arvamusi pidada Venemaa meedia mõjuväljas elava inimese tüüpiliseks mõtteviisiks ehk diskursuseks. Otsustasime need seisukohad, käsitlused ja mõtted välja tuua ning kõrvutada sellega, mida Eestis samade asjade kohta usutakse."



- Tapal avati USA sõdurite ehitatud taristu
(Postimees)
—
- US Military Completes $11.2 Million Face-Lift in Tapa
(ABCNews | Washington Post)
"Updated amenities include new sniper and machine gun ranges, maintenance facilities and a train loading area. ... the base recently has hosted American military units for training exercises. Next year it will become the main base for 800 British infantry and 300 French troops."
—
—
- U.S. Army Returns Tanks to Europe as NATO Eyes Assertive Russia
(NBC News)



- Gotland rejects Russian pipeline
(Radio Sweden | Deutsche Welle | RFERL)
--
"The decision comes amid growing security concerns over Russia's influence in Europe."
--



- Russian company eyeing LNG bunkering facility in Saaremaa
(The Baltic Course)
“… the center they are planning at Montu will comprise a floating LNG storage facility with a capacity of 5,000 cubic meters and a berth for the mooring of vessels bunkered from a 1,300 cubic meter tanker capable of supplying fuel both in harbors and at offshore facilities of Estonian and Latvian ports."



- 'RT America': The One News Outlet For Which Trump Retains An Unexpected Affinity
(NPR)
[RT is the Kremlin’s propaganda channel.]




_________________

Wednesday
14. December
_________________


- Baltic states urge strong U.S. defense commitment to region
(Reuters)
"The defense ministers of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia renewed their call on Wednesday for a strong U.S. engagement in the Baltic region amid concerns over the attitude of the incoming Trump administration. … In their statement, the three defense ministers said they wanted a long-term allied air and maritime presence in the Baltic Sea region, including the continuation of the enhanced NATO air-policing mission."
—
- U.S. decides to accelerate troop deployment to Poland, Baltics, and Romania
(Latvian Broadcasting | ERR)
"Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges said the troops would arrive in the German port of Bremerhaven on Jan. 6, and immediately be deployed to Poland, the Baltic states, and Romania. Their transfer would be timed and treated as a test of how fast the force could move from port to field."
--



- Humor: "Putin Agrees to Receive Intelligence Briefings in Trump's Place"
(The New Yorker)
“… a further example of international coöperation …"





_________________

Tuesday
13. December
_________________


- Latvia: Russian military jets fly by to Kaliningrad
(Latvian Broadcasting)
"NATO's Baltic Air Police jets identified two Sukhoi Su-27 jets, which are fairly frequent vsitors, and one more advanced Su-30 …"



- Report: Putin Personally Involved in U.S. Election Hack
(NBC News)
-- 
- The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the U.S.
(New York Times)
"A 2007 cyberattack on Estonia, a former Soviet republic that had joined NATO, sent a message that Russia could paralyze the country without invading it. The next year cyberattacks were used during Russia’s war with Georgia.
But American officials did not imagine that the Russians would dare try those techniques inside the United States."
--
- Luureallikad: USA valimiste mõjutamist juhtis Putin isiklikult
(ERR)
"Venemaa president Vladimir Putin juhtis isiklikult kampaaniat, mille eesmärk oli mõjutada USA presidendivalimisi, teatas NBC News, tuginedes mitme kõrge luureametniku ütlustele."





_________________

Monday
12. December
_________________


- Why Trump Makes This Small Country So Nervous
(Politico)
"Centuries of invasions by czars, Bolsheviks, Nazis and Soviets have made Estonians a stoic lot. Even as American officials in Washington fret about Russian intentions, Estonians are well-accustomed to living with the specter of the Russian threat and the uncertainty it can bring. Memories of the Soviet occupation and a 2007 cyberattack on Estonia by Russia - not to mention Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine - remain fresh here.”
—
“When several years ago, President [George W.] Bush looked into the eyes of [Vladimir] Putin and saw something nice there or whatever, we didn’t. When Hillary Clinton as secretary of state pushed this reset button, we didn’t see any chance of that reset working,” Foreign Minister Sven Mikser said. “We here in Estonia are rather skeptical that this could end in a success. … It would be good to have a more sober, more realistic approach from the beginning.”
—
- Survey: 89% of Estonians support the country’s NATO membership
(Estonian World)



- Media: Raadio Vaba Euroopa läheb Trumpi käpa alla
(Postimees)
[Trump could get direct control of RFERL, VOA.]
—
- Media: A big change to U.S. broadcasting is coming - it’s one Putin might admire
(Washington Post)
"An amendment quietly inserted into the annual National Defense Authorization Act by Republican House leaders would abolish the broadcasting board and place VOA, RFE/RL and other international news and information operations under the direct control of a chief executive appointed by the president.”







_________________

- Putin -
“Trust No One"
_________________


- Proposed Mental Health Database Has Russian Psychiatrists Worried
(The Moscow Times)
"When it was founded in August, “National Pharmaceutical Registry, Ltd.” seemed innocuous enough. The company planned to create a unified registry of pharmaceutical products purchased, sold, and imported in Russia. Their database would assist with state procurement of medications. … Earlier this month, the company outlined its plan to create a unified registry of all Russians suffering from psychiatric illnesses. ... psychiatrists are already raising the alarm over confidentiality, security and what the database will be used for."
—
- Political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union 
(World Library org)
"There was systematic political abuse of psychiatry in the Soviet Union, based on the interpretation of political opposition or dissent as a psychiatric problem. … If a person was mentally ill, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital until his dying day. If he was not quite mentally healthy but not quite ill, with his character traits, he was sent to a prison camp or shot. When some allusions to the so-called socialist legality appeared, it was decided these people must be tried. But soon it became realized that bringing the people who gave anti-Soviet speeches to trial made matters worse, they began not to be admitted to the court by being attributed with psychiatric diagnoses and declared insane."
—
- The World of Soviet Psychiatry
(New York Times - January 1983)
“… I met Soviet emigres who were psychiatrists themselves - some of them dissidents escaping political trouble but most of them people who had simply wanted to leave. Among the latter, several had worked as scientists and clinicians at the heart of Soviet psychiatry, either in Snezhnevsky's institute or in other important research centers."
--
"Soon enough, it became apparent that the experience of Soviet psychiatry had a lot to teach - not only about Soviet political repression but about the ways in which people who have spent their lives in the Soviet environment think, talk and perceive each other. And, too, it had a lot to teach about the vulnerabilities of psychiatry to misuse wherever it is practiced. Some of the characteristics of Soviet psychiatry that had resulted in the misdiagnoses of dissidents were distortions of standard psychiatric logic, theory and practice. In short, the story of Soviet psychiatry was a case study in what could go wrong in a profession and in a society."




- Baker’s Dozen of Neglected Russian Stories
(Paul Goble)




- What It Really Means to Be a ‘Friend of Putin’
(Politico)
"The lesson of Putin’s 16-year tenure is a lesson that all businesspeople, foreign and domestic, have learned: To do business in Russia, you have to be on good, personal terms with Putin (and Putin's former KGB buddy), Igor Sechin. And you have to understand that those two gatekeepers to Russia’s riches are fickle and sadistic, and, as former KGB operatives, know little of real friendship. To do business in Russia—both for Exxon Mobil and for Tillerson’s own massive retirement fund, whose fortunes would rise significantly if a Trump White House lifted sanctions—you have to dance to Putin’s tune, and take whatever favors and humiliations he sends your way.”
--
"Putin may act a friend and pin state medals on your breast, but he is, ultimately, a cynic. And to play ball with him, you have to be a cynic, too. Forget your honor, your rule of law, your independent judiciary, your human rights, your international law, and focus on the gold coins he throws to your feet. And forget looking dignified as you gather them up."
—
- GOP Leader Throws Cold Water on Trump's Warm Russian Relationships
(WNYC)
—
- What does Putin gain from a Trump presidency?
(CNN)
--
- Basis of Putin’s Optimism: Big US Firms Were Quite Ready to Overlook Even Stalin’s Crimes
(Paul Goble)
--
- What We Know About Rex Tillerson, Trump's Pick For Secretary Of State
(NPR)
"ExxonMobil is one of the few American oil companies that has managed to stay in Russia through all kinds of political weather."
--
- For Republican Russia Hawks, a Dilemma Named Rex Tillerson
(New York Times)
"Reagan helped to frame the template for an American foreign policy that promulgated democracy around the world and curbed what has often been called Russian adventurism. 
Now Republicans will have to reconcile that party catechism with their vote on Mr. Trump’s selection as secretary of state, Rex W. Tillerson, who is the chief executive of Exxon Mobil and a longtime friend of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia."
—
- Trump wasn’t happy with his State Department finalists. Then he heard a new name.
(Washington Post)
“… by happenstance, Trump welcomed into his office a man who has served presidents of both parties, Robert M. Gates. Trump asked his guest, a former CIA director and former defense secretary, what he thought of the four candidates. After Gates ran through his thoughts, it seemed that Trump was “looking for a way out,” a person familiar with the session said. Trump asked whether there was someone else to consider. “I recommend Rex,” Gates told Trump, referring to Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of ExxonMobil. Gates said in an interview that he had not gone to the meeting intending to recommend Tillerson, and he did not recommend anyone else. Separately, on the previous day, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice had proposed Tillerson to Vice President-elect Mike Pence. Rice and Gates, who run a consulting firm that counts ExxonMobil as a client, had jointly concluded that Tillerson might give Trump a fresh alternative."





- The Two Putins, Imaginary and Real
(Window on Eurasia)
"Many have asked “who is Mr. Putin?” but the answer is complicated by the fact that there are at least two Putins, the one many people imagine him to be and the one he really is, and that the longer he remains in power, the greater the gap between the two is becoming, according to Aleksey Shaburov."





- Aleksei Navalny Annnounces He Will Seek Russian Presidency
(RFERL)
—
- Alexei Navalny's presidential platform
(Meduza)
--
- Can Navalny Trump Putin?
(RFERL)
—
- Opinion: Navalny is useful for Putin
(Deutsche Welle)


_________
_____
__











Posted by at
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)