Month: November 2010

November 8, 2010

Oleg Kashin and Investigatory Ineptness

Julia Ioffe has a blog post up detailing some of the horrifying details of the inept investigation into the brutally violent beating of Kommersant journalist Oleg Kashin. Kashin’s friends report that the preliminary investigation was shoddy ...
November 8, 2010

Energy Blast – Nov 8, 2010

Russia’s Sakhalin Energy project has posted a $1.266 billion profit for the first half of 2010. Reuters reports on Sakhalin’s extreme weather conditions and fears that a spill in Arctic conditions could create an unsolvable catastrophe...
November 8, 2010

Today in Russian Business – Nov 8, 2010

Alexander Lebedev talks to the Telegraph about the threats he says he has received from the FSB in recent years, as reports emerge that his Ukrainian hotel was raided over the weekend.  ‘[T]here is an undeniable pressure on independent ...
November 8, 2010

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 8, 2010

TODAY: Journalists demand full investigation into beating of Oleg Kashin, who is still in critical condition; Medvedev vetoes protest bill; Communist demonstration draws 4,000, veterans protest against Serdyukov; census shows population drop; FT w...
November 7, 2010

Deepening Political Risk in Brazil

Who doesn’t love Brazil?  Its raw beauty, bountiful human and natural resources, and strong economy have helped make it the democratic pearl of the BRIC nations.  Few other countries have enjoyed such a prominent winning streak for...
November 6, 2010

Derailing the Reset?

Peter Baker at the New York Times picks up on the threat posed to the Obama Administration’s warming relations with Russia as a result of the elections this week. If he fails to win approval before the old Senate adjourns, Mr. Obama’s ...
November 6, 2010

Russia’s Dying Journalists

Following a brief visit to Moscow, Jeff Bercovici of Forbes politely asks why Russian journalists continually face worse and worse conditions, with an emphasis on the recent savage attack on Oleg Kashin of Kommersant. The journalists I met, both t...
November 5, 2010

Corker’s Dilemma

With the Democrat’s loss of House majority this week, some eager and angry representatives have their eyes set on dismantling the replacement START treaty.  From Josh Rogin on FP’s The Cable: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), one of three R...
November 5, 2010

Great Game Redux

Der Spiegel breaks a big story:  Central Asia is still important.  Just because Washington has given up on the region doesn’t mean that Russia, China, and Europe are still engaged. Turkmenistan, the least populous of the five natio...
November 5, 2010

Energy Blast – Nov 5, 2010

Deputy U.S. Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman has reportedly said that the US hopes that talks with Iran over its nuclear program will resume imminently.  ‘A culture of corruption’, meant bribes were paid on behalf of Royal Dutch Sh...