Russia

November 6, 2009

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 6, 2009

TODAY: Markelov murder suspect reportedly confesses; vengeance a possible motive?  Activist abducted in Moscow.  Spy chief issues warning on Georgia; Lavrov surprised at Poland soliciting US help.  Medvedev reserves army use for eme...
November 5, 2009

On Russia’s Muslim Strategy

Walter Laqueur of the Center for Strategic and International Studies has a very thought-provoking new paper out entitled “Russia’s Muslim Strategy“. It’s quite a bit to digest, as there are obviously a number of subplots to...
November 5, 2009

UN Human Rights Committee report on Russia: Transcript

This story broke last week but I’m only getting to it now as I wanted to find a full transcript of the text, which I haven’t had the time to do until now. The full transcript is here. There is far too much to suitably quote or comment ...
November 5, 2009

Is GM Turnaround Putin’s Just Desserts?

Does the slashing of the GM deal mean Putin is getting a taste of his own medicine?  This is from Streetwise Professor : The decision of GM’s board to maintain control of Opel touched off howls of protest from Germany-and Vladimir Putin...
November 5, 2009

Yandex Blow For Bloggers

The Kremlin has, for a long time, sponsored clampdowns of various forms on the use of the Internet.  As a free flowing source of information in a country where the government likes its press regulated, it is hardly surprising that the Kremlin...
November 5, 2009

Censoring The Census

As many frequent readers of the Russian media would attest, retrieving accurate data pertaining to any sensitive topic can prove difficult.  It is thus reassuring to see that Russia has agreed to hold its census next year, at a cost of 10.5 b...
November 5, 2009

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 5, 2009

TODAY: Two arrested in relation to the Markelov and  Baburova killings; police looming at yesterday’s Unity Day celebrations; leaders pledged tolerance whilst ultranationalists marched en masse; bloggers to be hushed by Yandex decision?...
November 5, 2009

Magna Reflections

I gave a talk at a conference today and we released the white paper on Singapore so frankly I’m getting to this later than it would normally take to respond. I believe Magna is one of those cases I have spoken about in the past of premature ...
November 4, 2009

GM U-Turn Startles

It felt as if negotiations would go on for an eternity, with months of stalling: search this site for ‘Opel bid’ and the stories of stops and starts come thick and fast.  Now, just as it seemed that the deal was finally coming to ...