Wall Street Journal (March 24)
The Obama administration announced plans “to give up U.S. control of the Internet to a still-to-be-determined collection of governments and international groups.” It’s hard to imagine this creating a better governing body. “It’s easy to imagine a new Internet oversight body operating like the United Nations, with repressive governments taking turns silencing critics. China could get its wish to remove FreeTibet.org from the Internet as an affront to its sovereignty. Russia could force Twitter to remove posts by Ukrainian-Americans criticizing Vladimir Putin.” Congress should override President Obama’s decision.
Tags: China, Congress, Critics, Governing body, Icann, Internet, Obama, Putin, Russia, Sovereignty, Tibet, Twitter, U.S., Ukraine, UN
Forbes (March 24)
“Vladimir Putin has made a strategic blunder that could rival the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. Moscow, counting on Western weakness, may, in the short term, succeed in carving up the country or ending the 22-year existence of an independent Ukraine. But it has set in motion forces that will severely damage Russia, as well as Putin’s own reign.”
Tags: Afghanistan, Blunder, Damage, Moscow, Putin, Russia, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Weakness, West
New York Times (March 19)
Will Crimean exuberance over a Russian homecoming soon turn to disappointment? History suggests as much. When South Ossetia was liberated from Georgia in 2008 “people were delighted to see the Russian soldiers…. But within a few months of Russia’s recognition, shivering through the winter behind windows made of plastic sheeting, people began to wonder when the billions of rubles of aid pledged by Russia would reach them.”
Tags: Aid, Crimea, Disappointment, Exuberance, Georgia, Rubles, Russia, Soldiers, South Ossetia
USA Today (March 18)
“It would be foolish to think that Putin — basking in record popularity and surrounded by hard-line advisers — will do anything other than press the objective he has pursued for years: restoring the historic subjugation of Ukraine to Russia’s will.” The U.S. and “Europe, which has deeper trade ties to Russia” must not mislead themselves. They “must make clear how high the price of further aggression will be.”
Tags: Advisers, Aggression, Europe, Hard line, Objective, Popularity, Price, Putin, Russia, Trade, U.S., Ukraine
Washington Post (March 6)
Russia’s energy stranglehold around Europe, which imports about a third of its fuel from Russia, must be loosened. “In the long term, Europe and Ukraine should continue to make their energy markets more flexible. Ukraine should consider building an LNG import terminal on the Black Sea, and the country must clean up its notoriously corrupt energy production sector.” Abundant supply in the U.S., Norway, Qatar and Eastern Europe can also play a role in freeing Europe “from Gazprom’s grip.”
Tags: Black Sea, Eastern Europe, Energy, Europe, Gazprom, Imports, LNG terminal, Norway, Qatar, Russia, U.S., Ukraine
Financial Times (February 24, 2014)
“Twenty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Europe again echoes to the sound and fury of revolution.” With the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovich, the Ukraine now has a chance at a fresh start. “This is a moment of immense opportunity–and immense danger–for Ukraine, for the EU and for Russia. More than any single moment since the collapse of the Soviet bloc, the revolution that began in Kiev heralds ‘the hour of Europe.’”
Tags: Berlin Wall, Danger, EU, Europe, Kiev, Opportunity, Overthrow, Revolution, Russia, Soviet bloc, Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich
Washington Post (February 14, 2014)
Russia’s refreshingly independent TV Dozhd may soon be off the air as cable and satellite providers, apparently under duress, drop the channel from their offerings. “This knives-in-the-night approach is typical of the latter-day Putin regime. While Mr. Putin once caused a stir with a highly publicized takeover of the independent TV channel NTV, now he is stealthier, working his will from the shadows…. But the result is the same: It looks like yet another light in Russia’s democratic struggle—the refreshing openness of TV Dozhd—is about to go dark.”
Tags: Cable, Democratic struggle, Duress, Independent, Openness, Putin, Regime, Russia, Satellite, Stealth, Takeover, TV, TV Dozhd
Washington Post (February 3, 2014)
Rather than marking Vladimir Putin’s crowning achievement, “the Sochi Olympics are more likely to become a forum for the demonstration of how and why Putin’s rule of Russia has failed—and how his power is ebbing both abroad and at home.”
Tags: Demonstration, Failure, Power, Russia, Sochi Olympics, Vladimir Putin
Time (January 10, 2014)
“Only a short time ago, the world’s emerging markets, especially the BRICs – Brazil, Russia, India and China – were supposed to be the saviors of the global economy…. Now, however, with the opening of 2014, many emerging markets look like they’re the ones that need saving.”
Tags: 2014, Brazil, BRICS, China, Emerging markets, Global economy, India, Russia
Institutional Investor (January 6, 2014)
Monetary expansion continues to be the central-bank fashion in much of the developed world. In contrast, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), “has surprised the market with a hard-line monetary stance.” Instead of stoking short-term economic growth, CBR Governor Elvira Nabiullna is firmly committed to moderating inflation, and “most analysts credit her tight-money policy as the best option under the circumstances.”Monetary expansion continues to be the central-bank fashion in much of the developed world. In contrast, the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), “has surprised the market with a hard-line monetary stance.” Instead of stoking short-term economic growth, CBR Governor Elvira Nabiullna is firmly committed to moderating inflation, and “most analysts credit her tight-money policy as the best option under the circumstances.”
Tags: Analysts, Central Bank of Russia, Economic growth, Elvira Nabiullna, Inflation, Monetary expansion, Monetary policy, Russia, Tight-money policy
