Window On Eurasia: Putin’s Approach In Pikalevo Won’t Save That Company Town Or The 458 Others Like It In Russia, Experts Say
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posted by eagle on July, 2009 as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Paul Goble
Vienna, July 3 – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s dressing down of an oligarch in Pikalevo may have made for good television, but experts say it won’t save that company town from a new catastrophe later this year or keep any of the 458 other such places across Russia from suffering a similar fate.
Indeed, these analysts say, according to an article posted on the SVPressa.ru portal this week, Putin’s approach reflects both the set of attitudes that gave rise to these company towns in the first place and the policy approaches that are reducing the chance these places, where a quarter of the Russian population lives, will survive (svpressa.ru/issue/news.php?id=10850).
The issue of company towns has been a focus of discussions since Moscow economist Yevgeny Gontmakher published his article about them, “Novocherkassk-2009” at the end of 2008 (www.vedomosti.ru/newspaper/article.shtml?2008/11/06/167542) and especially since the residents ...
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Prague Watchdog: The “CTO” Is A Question, Not An Answer
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
The “CTO” is a question, not an answerBy Demis Polandov, special to Prague Watchdog 
The news that a counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime has been introduced in the Elbrussky district of Kabardino-Balkaria may seem unexpected to outsiders, but is unlikely to come as a surprise to local residents. The mountain districts of Balkaria and Karachay were long ago turned into a location for the insurgents’ weapons caches and a platform for the preachings of the Salafists. Gunfire and explosions are frequently heard here, but the incidents mostly go unreported in the media, and even sensational terrorist attacks are lost in the general flow of negative reports from the North Caucasus, particularly its eastern part. Now the federal government appears to have woken up and finally decided to impose order. If there are Wahhabis, then a counter-terrorist operation must be launched. There will be some flying over gorges, a dozen or so people will be shot and killed, a report will be filed ... |
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Prague Watchdog: The “CTO” Is A Question, Not An Answer
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
The “CTO” is a question, not an answerBy Demis Polandov, special to Prague Watchdog
The news that a counter-terrorism operation (CTO) regime has been introduced in the Elbrussky district of Kabardino-Balkaria may seem unexpected to outsiders, but is unlikely to come as a surprise to local residents. The mountain districts of Balkaria and Karachay were long ago turned into a location for the insurgents’ weapons caches and a platform for the preachings of the Salafists. Gunfire and explosions are frequently heard here, but the incidents mostly go unreported in the media, and even sensational terrorist attacks are lost in the general flow of negative reports from the North Caucasus, particularly its eastern part. Now the federal government appears to have woken up and finally decided to impose order. If there are Wahhabis, then a counter-terrorist operation must be launched. There will be some flying over gorges, a dozen or so people will be shot and killed, a report will be filed ... |
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NY Times: Preparing For Trip To Russia, Obama Praises Putin’s Protégé, At Putin’s Expense
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Preparing for Trip to Russia, Obama Praises Putin’s Protégé, at Putin’s ExpensePublished: July 2, 2009 MOSCOW — President Obama said Thursday that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia still had “one foot” in the cold war and needed to move on, a provocative assessment for an American leader just days before traveling here for the first time since taking office.
Mr. Obama distinguished Mr. Putin from President Dmitri A. Medvedev, his hand-picked successor, who was elected last year and is the object of much speculation, given the unusual power-sharing arrangement here. Unlike Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama said, Mr. Medvedev recognizes that it is time for the two cold war antagonists to put the past behind them. “It’s important that even as we move forward with President Medvedev that Putin understand that the old cold war approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated — that it’s time to move forward in a different direction,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I think Medvedev understands that,” he said. “I think Putin has one ...
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Prague Watchdog: Was The Attempted Assassination Of Yevkurov The Prelude To A Coup?
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posted by eagle on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Was the attempted assassination of Yevkurov the prelude to a coup?By Avraam Shmulevich, President of the Institute of Eastern Partnership (Israel), special to Prague Watchdog 
Jerusalem
In recent weeks a series of high-profile political assassinations has taken place in Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. Most of them appeared to be carefully and professionally planned and organized. These events cannot fail to raise some awkward questions. One rather strange aspect of this unprecedented wave of terrorist attacks is the fact that Vladimir Ustinov, Moscow’s current Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Southern Federal District, has remained unpunished and indeed unmentioned. At the very least, it would have been logical to expect his resignation. However, if one looks back a few years, one can find other instances of this apparent official immunity. For example, after the Beslan tragedy North Ossetia’s President Alexander Dzasokhov remained in his post until April 2005, when he refused to sign the "action plan for the resolution of the Ossetian-Ingush ... |
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