November 28:
In an indication of growing unease among Russia's leadership, a top Kremlin official has warned that Interior Ministry troops will be used to prevent any manifestation of "American-style democracy" in the Russian Federation. RBC.ru reports Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsov as saying that the Russian government will act forcefully to ensure that the "tragic consequences" of American-style democracy visible in other countries - including "the collapse of their economies, appalling social situations, [and] the destruction of the state" - don't happen within Russia.
What is Putin's plan for Europe? The International Business Times, citing German newsmagazine BILD, reports that a classified plan drafted by Moscow's Centre for Strategic Communications has laid out a blueprint for Russia to erect a "sphere of influence" throughout the Eurozone. The initiative reportedly involves "wooing different far-right political parties across Europe to support [the] Kremlin's political influence within the European Union." The proposed plan - which appears to be being implemented by Russia's president - involves a strictly financial component as well. The study calls for "various Russian banks and other financial institutions... to provide cheap loans to the different political parties that will be one with Mr Putin."
December 1:
Russian president Vladimir Putin is executing an energy about-face, the Wall Street Journal reports. Putin, on a state visit to Turkey, has announced that Russia is abandoning plans for the now-stalled South Stream natural gas pipeline to Europe in favor of growing energy ties to the government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The move, while a prudent one for Moscow - which has progressively been shut out of energy cooperation with the West as a result of tensions over Ukraine - represents an important strategic shift for the Turkish government, observers say. "Turkey is establishing ever-deeper economic ties with Russia in a sign that it is getting further from the U.S. and EU stance toward Russia," says Ozgur Unluhisarcikli of the German Marshall Fund. "Turkey's commitment to the trans-Atlantic community will be questioned.”
Sex slavery is alive and well in Russia, a new expose by The Moscow Times outlines. The paper cites a new human rights report as noting that the country "is now at once a destination, origin and transit country for sex slaves," and that the sex slave "work force" in Russia today numbers some one million people. Yet, despite the scope of the problem, Russian authorities have not given it much attention, for political reasons. In the words of one human rights campaigner, "admitting the existence of slavery, in the eyes of officials, would harm our prestige."
Islamic extremists in Russia's Volga region are increasingly identifying with the Islamic State terrorist group.The RosBalt news agency cites Rais Suleimanov of the Institute for National Strategy as noting that there appears to be growing identification with ISIS and its self-declared “caliph,” Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, among extremist elements in Russia's Eurasian "heartland." The recent trial in Kazan, the regional capital of Tatarstan, of a militant returnee who previously fought against the Assad regime in Syria is demonstrative of a larger phenomenon, Suleimanov says. "In recent years in Tatarstan, there has been noticeable agitation in favor of the 'Islamic State,' including the collection of donations to be used for 'jihad in Syria.'" This effort was relatively successful, with significant alms raised and a number of fighters who went off to fight on the Syrian front. As a result, according to Suleimanov, it is reasonable to conclude that the Islamic State now "extends its influence not only into the North Caucasus, but into the Volga region as well."
December 2:
Falling oil prices are leaving the Kremlin with little choice but to maintain its current aggressive policy toward the West. That, at least, is the opinion of one leading Russia-watcher. Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmertells CNBC that Russian president Vladimir Putin has "gone all-in on an anti-U.S., must-keep-Ukraine nationalist engagement," and it is now "completely inconceivable" that he will moderate his confrontational posture. Rather, Bremmer predicts, the Kremlin's approach will continue to harden, as the plunging world price of oil pushes Putin "further into a corner."
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