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Patriots of Banning

Details: 07 August 2015; Alexander Podrabinek

On July 7, a so-called “patriotic stop-list” was created in Russia, identifying twelve foreign non-governmental organizations whose activity has been deemed “undesirable” in the country. On July 22, the MacArthur Foundation, included in the stop-list, announced its decision to leave Russia. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, this is only the beginning of a large-scale campaign against Russian civil society.

Details: Media Must-Reads

Media Must-Reads: Russia’s Brain Drain, Dashcams for Freedom, and ‘Putin Is a Dick’

1–7 August 2015

Details: 07 August 2015

Commentator Georgy Bovt writes in The Moscow Times that Russia’s declining education system could cause a shortage of qualified workers in the country, while Nina Khrushcheva in Quartz tests the limits of political freedom in Russia by holding up a provocative sign on Red Square.

Details: World

Europe’s New Pro-Putin Coalition: the Parties of ‘No’

Details: 03 August 2015; Péter Krekó, Marie Macaulay, Csaba Molnár, Lóránt Győri. Political Capital Institute (Hungary)

The recent creation of the Eurosceptic far-right faction Europe of Nations and Freedom (ENF) by Marine Le Pen, the leader of French party National Front, means there is a new and more powerful pro-Kremlin caucus in the European Parliament. ENF members consistently push Moscow’s interests in committees and plenary sessions, while masking their actions by saying they are lobbying the needs of interest groups.

Details: Media Must-Reads

Think Tank Controversy, Muslims in Moscow, and Travails of an Exiled Oligarch

25–31 July 2015

Details: 31 July 2015

Reporter James Kirchick ignited an intense debate this week with an article in The Daily Beast that examined whether the Carnegie Moscow Center has lost its objectivity and become too friendly toward the Kremlin. Also, Catherine Belton of Financial Times interviewed exiled former oligarch Sergei Pugachev, who said he helped bring Vladimir Putin to power.

Details: World

What Will the U.S. Do About the Russian ‘Threat’?

Details: 29 July 2015; Donald N. Jensen

The U.S. general likely to become the country’s top military officer recently called Russia the “greatest threat” to America, and a new U.S. military doctrine includes it on a list of global bad actors. But the government remains divided on how to respond to Moscow’s increasingly provocative behavior, writes Donald Jensen, resident fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations.

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