RUSSIA-The Future 2015 & on

[JayH]

Predicting a coming Russian revolution has been a favorite hobby of Russia watchers for years now. But since President Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea in March 2014, the doomsaying has intensified, as plunging oil prices and Western economic sanctions wreak havoc on the Russian economy. Yet even though the ruble has lost over half its value, inflation has risen from 5 percent to 16 percent and Russians’ purchasing power has dropped to 1990s levels, Putin’s approval ratings have so far remained close to a near-miraculous 80 percent thanks to a heady mix of military adventures and a barrage of patriotic propaganda.

RESTLESS IN RUSSIA: THE KREMLIN BRACES FOR A POSSIBLE SPRING OF DISCONTENT

On December 15, a new barbed-wire fence was installed around Ostankino, Moscow’s central TV studio, making it harder for crowds to break in, as they did during anti-Kremlin protests in October 1993. Authorities also swapped the studio’s regular security guards for elite troops from the KGB’s successor agency, the Federal Security Service. Television has been crucial to creating the wave of patriotic fervor that has kept Putin popular even as prices rise and living standards fall—what Russians call the battle between the television and the refrigerator. Right now, the refrigerator seems to be winning: According to a recent poll by the independent Levada Center in Moscow, Russians’ trust in the TV news has slipped from 79 percent in 2009 to just 41 percent today.“Of course, [the Kremlin] understands that this is going to be a hard year, politically and economically,” says Anton Krasovsky, a blogger and former anchor at NTV television in Russia who was fired last year after announcing he was HIV-positive. “There is no more money for social spending, no money for increasing salaries to teachers, doctors, firemen.… But the priority is to prepare the way for Putin to remain president after [elections] in 2018.”So far, the Kremlin has kept discontent at bay with the age-old expedient of providing a steady diet of enemies to blame for Russia’s problems—the Americans, the Ukrainians and now the Turks.

http://www.newsweek.com/2016/01/15/restless-russia-411530.html

[JayH]

One of the mantras of today's Kremlin apologists, as well as of some self-described political realists, is that current Russian President Vladimir Putin is unusually popular among Russians.
Putin's Fragile Popularity

But how genuine, sustainable, and historically relevant are the impressive pro-Putin polling results continually reported by public opinion research agencies?

High rates of official public support for rulers of undemocratic systems are not unusual. The Germans, for example, once overwhelmingly supported a leader who was much more autocratic, expansionist, and aggressive than Putin. Yet should Hitler's popularity in the 1940s, even after his death, mean that we ought to have more empathy for him because the "Fuehrer" (leader) temporarily represented a large part of the German nation? One could list dozens of dictators who were praised during and shortly after their repressive rules, but many of these once-admired hyper-patriots left behind ambivalent if not catastrophic legacies. More often than not, their crimes affected not only surrounding states and ethnic minorities but also the titular nations in their own countries.

Moreover, it is difficult to establish the validity of public opinion research results under conditions of ideological monism and political repression. What does Russian polling data actually tell us? Is Putin's popularity really as high as respondents' answers suggest? How ready are citizens to openly express their political views in an authoritarian system dominated by former Soviet state security officers? Are the preferences recorded in the polls reflective of the entire gamut of respondents' worldviews? To what degree are such views shaped by plural sources of information provided by professional journalists?

http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/putin-s-fragile-popularity?utm_content=bufferf4fc9&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[JayH]

It was icy cold and snowy in Moscow, but warm and sunny in Sochi, the Black Sea resort, where President Vladimir Putin was surrounded with magnolias, palms, and cypress trees. Here in Moscow, you needed a thick overcoat if you dared a walk in the snow, while in Sochi a shirt and a light jacket were good enough. Truly, the Russian president lives in his own world, wholly different from most of Russia’s reality, and his world of the moment is subtropical.

The Daily Vertical: Austerity, But For Whom?

http://flashvideo.rferl.org/Videoroot/Pangeavideo/2016/01/c/c1/c10315ed-94f2-4a6a-a255-ea9a40b31b9f.mp4



http://www.rferl.org/content/daily-vertical-austerity-but-for-whom/27489582.html

[JayH]

Worth noting to anyone planning visit to Russia.


An unpleasant surprise Russia prepares for foreigners


http://www.amn.com.ua/svit/nepryyatnyj-syurpryz-gotovyt-rossyya-dlya-ynostrantsev/

[krimster2]

so? it's about 1/4 the cost of a VISA to Russia.  Ukraine used to have this form of travel insurance as well that you used to have to purchase in Boriyspil , the insurance co. was owned by an oligarch and the insurance was not actually accepted anywhere so it was all just a scam as I'm sure the Russian one will be as well, or in other words "business as usual"
Hey ,what's it like being over there with all the latest up to date info without having any out of date sources or needing the internet for information?  Gosh it's good to know everyone can depend on you for all the latest and greatest information!  what an outstanding, wonderful human being you are!

[JayH]

A survey shows the Kremlin is not fooling to many people.

Putin surprised: the unexpected results of a survey in Russia

Some residents of the Russian Federation recognized that would never be considered enemies of the inhabitants of the countries in which they like to travel, but most of the problems created by the authorities that set people against each other. The Europeans have the right approach to life and the right family values, and the Russians need to take an example with European citizens, respondents noted
Источник: http://replyua.net/news/putin/29581-putin-udivitsya-neozhidannye-rezultaty-oprosa-v-rossii.html

http://replyua.net/news/putin/29581-putin-udivitsya-neozhidannye-rezultaty-oprosa-v-rossii.html

[JayH]

Article illustrates the contempt the Kremlin shows towards the west--the only agenda of interest to Putin and the Kremlin is their own.
 "Moscow appears tired of talking about it, even though the Minsk peace process is clearly going nowhere (Kommersant, May 12). Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko argues that by fighting against Russian aggression, his country is, in fact, shielding Europe from barbarism and tyranny (RBC, May 21). This discourse rings true in many Western capitals. And despite a pronounced “Ukraine fatigue” and a desire to mitigate the confrontation with Russia in many European political circles, sanctions will almost certainly be prolonged and fine-tuned during the upcoming European Council meeting at the end of June"

The Futility of Dialogue With Putin


http://www.jamestown.org/single/?tx_ttnews[tt_news]=45458&tx_ttnews[backPid]=7&cHash=068e3cec4bd913569ef6fe0f21f6da46#.V0PylJF942y