DOCSLIB.ORG

Putin's $50 Billion Olympic Gamble

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Putin's $50 Billion Olympic Gamble RUSSIA POWER DRIVE: Vladimir Putin, here driving a snowmobile at Russia’s ski resort of Krasnaya Polyana near Sochi in early 2010, sees the Olympics as a chance for Russia to reassert itself on the world stage. REUTERS/RIA NOVOsti/KREMLIN/DMITRY AstakHOV Putin’s $50 billion Olympic gamble As the price tag soars for the winter games in Russia, wealthy private investors are pushing back over costs BY THOMAS Grove SOCHI, FebruarY 21, 2013 SPECIAL REPORT 1 RUSSIA PUTIn’S $50 BILLION OLYMPIC GAMBLE bove the Black Sea city of Sochi, one The bargaining power is said Bower. The Russian president may of Russia’s richest men is spending with the oligarchs until 2014, hope to recoup a return on the investment Abillions of roubles to turn a patch because they can come to the later. Whether the oligarchs will as well is of mountainside into a global showpiece. state for money or threaten that far from clear. Metals magnate Vladimir Potanin has paid the construction won’t get done “All (rises in costs) there are justified. for new buildings, new lifts and hundreds It is not possible to calculate everything of snow canons in the hope of transforming in time. in advance. New demands arise, includ- slopes not far from sub-tropical Sochi into Bruce Bower ing those from the International Olympic a world-class ski resort. Verno Capital Committee, which require additional costs. Like most of the plans to host the There’s nothing extraordinary about it,” Winter Olympic Games next year, Russia’s said Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov. ambitions for the ski village and other “Regarding possible disputes (between venues are outsized in scale and ambition. investors and developers), they are inevi- Total investment to make the sleepy region table when large-scale projects like this one fit to welcome thousands of competitors are being developed.” and the world’s media is expected to exceed A ‘SOCIAL PROJECT’ $50 billion, according to Russia’s interna- tional news agency RIA Novosti. In the eyes of many Russians, it was Putin’s That would make it the most expen- BIG FIGURES: Vladimir Potanin, left, and Oleg barnstorming style that won the country sive games, summer or winter, ever staged. Deripaska are unhappy with escalating costs and the right to stage the 2014 games. In 2007 The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, lack of support from Moscow. REUTERS/DENIS Putin flew to Guatemala where he wooed Canada, cost a mere $3.6 billion, according SINYAKOV (L) REUTERS/MICK Tsikas (R) the International Olympic Committee in a to an estimate by PricewaterhouseCoopers, speech in English, French and Spanish. He though others put the bill closer to $6 billion. presented an ambitious plan of public and While Russia’s President Vladimir Putin bank Vnesheconombank of up to $750 private partnerships to create the necessary has not flinched at Sochi’s eye-popping ex- million. Olympic infrastructure from scratch in what pense, some private investors and wealthy “We are carrying out talks with the was one of Russia’s least developed areas. oligarchs, recruited by Putin to help foot government on the compensation of a Russia’s wealthy were always going to the bill, are chafing at how much they are part of these expenditures through inter- be part of the plan, said Bower, adding that expected to do. In a rare challenge to the est rate subsidies,” said Potanin, speaking to they were encouraged by the prospect of Kremlin they are demanding that the state Reuters. “Many see this as a form of govern- gaining other high-profile state contracts help with the rising costs. ment support. But actually it is only com- in the future. Though precise figures on who is paying pensation for expenditures, which are not Infrastructure is expected to remain for what in Sochi are hard to obtain, RIA characteristic of ... commercial projects.” a growing market as Moscow and re- Novosti says private investors have spent Oleg Deripaska, another billionaire oli- gional governments look to replace crum- nearly $25 billion. Federal and regional garch, has similar complaints, reflecting the bling Soviet-era facilities for the football budgets have accounted for some $13 bil- complex, symbiotic relationship Putin has World Cup to be staged in Russia in 2018. lion of the costs incurred to date, according with Russia’s rich elite. Morgan Stanley says infrastructure spend- to Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak. “The bargaining power is with the oli- ing is expected to account for 7 percent of Potanin, whose estimated fortune of garchs until 2014, because they can come Russia’s rising GDP at least until 2018. $14.5 billion makes him Russia’s fourth to the state for money or threaten that the Many Russia watchers believe the coun- richest man, according to Forbes, is com- construction won’t get done in time,” said try’s most powerful businessmen keep their plaining of at least $530 million of extra Bruce Bower, a partner at the investment wealth at the pleasure of the Kremlin. For work his company was required to do. Now firm Verno Capital, who has lived in Russia Sochi, many of the biggest ventures were he wants the government to boost its con- since 2005. split up between Russia’s oligarchs, most tribution to his projects by cutting interest Putin wants the Games to project a pos- of whom, like Potanin and Deripaska, are rates on his debt, which includes money itive image of Russia to the world and may close to Putin. borrowed through a line of credit with state endure the rising bills with a fixed smile, “It wasn’t a question of either of them SPECIAL REPORT 2 RUSSIA PUTIn’S $50 BILLION OLYMPIC GAMBLE SLIPPERY SLOPE: Snowboarders practice in the half pipe at Extreme Park, a Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics venue, this month. REUTERS/KAI PFAFFENBACH making business decisions to join in with of a number of roads and traffic junctions. Olympics preparation. They were essen- Deripaska’s projects include the $760 tially told it would be a good idea for them million Olympic village, which will host to help out,” said one contractor. Another $50 billion 3,000 people in 47 buildings, and a 42-km source, who bid for a contract in Sochi but Estimate of total investment in road around the venues. He is also spend- was eliminated on a technicality, said that Olympic-related infrastructure ing nearly $300 million to expand Sochi the Kremlin had suggested its continued International Airport, according to his support for their business ventures depend- website. The construction of a new termi- ed on oligarchs getting involved. biggest nickel producer. nal will allow the airport to handle 2,500 Deripaska’s construction firm Basic Deripaska, a former physicist who came passengers per hour - up from a previous Element declined to comment on whether to control RUSAL, the world’s largest alu- capacity of 900 passengers per hour. his participation in the Olympics was a re- minium company, will hold a 27.8 percent LOYAL SHOWING sult of political pressure. Potanin has said stake in Norilsk Nickel. the idea was born after he skiied with Putin. In Sochi, Potanin’s projects include ho- In general, Russia’s super-rich elite dare not But in an interview on Ren TV he said his tels and chalets as well as the ski slopes at defy Putin, according to Maria Lipman, participation in the Games was altruistic. the resort of Rosa Khutor in the nearby an analyst at think tank Carnegie Moscow “I look at this project like a regular social mountains. Another investor is Arkady Centre. “They may be more demanding be- project coming from a person who has the Rotenburg, a construction billionaire who hind the scenes, but for now the show of ability to realise such a project for the coun- in his youth was a judo sparring partner loyalty is all part of the informal deals that try,” he said. of Putin. Stroygazmontazh, the pipeline Russia is based on,” she said. Well-connected Russians grew rich in company that he owns, has built a 177-km But there can be occasional discord. the chaotic years after the fall of the Soviet (110-mile) on and off-shore gas pipeline The soaring costs of Olympic projects have Union by acquiring some of the country’s around Sochi. driven officials at Deripaska’s company most valuable assets at well below market Rotenburg also has a stake in Russia’s Transstroy to pursue an arbitration battle values. Potanin made his first fortune as largest bridge builder, Mostotrest, with Olympstroy, the state-owned compa- a banker handling high-profile state ac- through investment vehicle Marco Polo ny coordinating construction of the venues. counts. Under a current deal, he will own Investments, where he is a main share- Transstroy says costs crept up after it had a 30.3 percent share in the former state- holder. Mostotrest is carrying out extensive taken on the project. owned company Norilsk Nickel, the world’s work in Sochi, including the construction “At the beginning of the project a SPECIAL REPORT 3 RUSSIA PUTIn’S $50 BILLION OLYMPIC GAMBLE UNDER CONSTRUCTION: Builders are hard at work to turn Moscow’s vision for Sochi, top Sochi’s blizzard of money right, into reality. A photo taken in December The 2014 Winter Games in Sochi will be the most expensive Olympics shows mountains, but little snow. REUTERS/GK ever. Russia is spending $50 billion to prepare venues on the Black Sea OLYMpstrOY/HANDOUT coast and in nearby mountains. Belarus RUSSIA RUSSIA number of errors and inaccuracies were Mountain allowed, which had to be worked out dur- Ukraine cluster Kazakhstan ing construction,” the company said in a statement.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Violence Against Kosovar Albanians, Nato's
    VIOLENCE AGAINST KOSOVAR ALBANIANS, NATO’S INTERVENTION 1998-1999 MSF SPEAKS OUT MSF Speaks Out In the same collection, “MSF Speaking Out”: - “Salvadoran refugee camps in Honduras 1988” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [October 2003 - April 2004 - December 2013] - “Genocide of Rwandan Tutsis 1994” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [October 2003 - April 2004 - April 2014] - “Rwandan refugee camps Zaire and Tanzania 1994-1995” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [October 2003 - April 2004 - April 2014] - “The violence of the new Rwandan regime 1994-1995” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [October 2003 - April 2004 - April 2014] - “Hunting and killings of Rwandan Refugee in Zaire-Congo 1996-1997” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [August 2004 - April 2014] - ‘’Famine and forced relocations in Ethiopia 1984-1986” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [January 2005 - November 2013] - “MSF and North Korea 1995-1998” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [January 2008 - 2014] - “War Crimes and Politics of Terror in Chechnya 1994-2004” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [June 2010 -2014] -”Somalia 1991-1993: Civil war, famine alert and UN ‘military-humanitarian’ intervention” Laurence Binet - Médecins Sans Frontières [October 2013] Editorial Committee: Laurence Binet, Françoise Bouchet-Saulnier, Marine Buissonnière, Katharine Derderian, Rebecca Golden, Michiel Hofman, Theo Kreuzen, Jacqui Tong - Director of Studies (project coordination-research-interviews-editing): Laurence Binet - Assistant: Berengere Cescau - Transcription of interviews: Laurence Binet, Christelle Cabioch, Bérengère Cescau, Jonathan Hull, Mary Sexton - Typing: Cristelle Cabioch - Translation into English: Aaron Bull, Leah Brummer, Nina Friedman, Imogen Forst, Malcom Leader, Caroline Lopez-Serraf, Roger Leverdier, Jan Todd, Karen Tucker - Proof reading: Rebecca Golden, Jacqui Tong - Design/lay out: - Video edit- ing: Sara Mac Leod - Video research: Céline Zigo - Website designer and webmaster: Sean Brokenshire.
    [Show full text]
  • The Russia You Never Met
    The Russia You Never Met MATT BIVENS AND JONAS BERNSTEIN fter staggering to reelection in summer 1996, President Boris Yeltsin A announced what had long been obvious: that he had a bad heart and needed surgery. Then he disappeared from view, leaving his prime minister, Viktor Cher- nomyrdin, and his chief of staff, Anatoly Chubais, to mind the Kremlin. For the next few months, Russians would tune in the morning news to learn if the presi- dent was still alive. Evenings they would tune in Chubais and Chernomyrdin to hear about a national emergency—no one was paying their taxes. Summer turned to autumn, but as Yeltsin’s by-pass operation approached, strange things began to happen. Chubais and Chernomyrdin suddenly announced the creation of a new body, the Cheka, to help the government collect taxes. In Lenin’s day, the Cheka was the secret police force—the forerunner of the KGB— that, among other things, forcibly wrested food and money from the peasantry and drove some of them into collective farms or concentration camps. Chubais made no apologies, saying that he had chosen such a historically weighted name to communicate the seriousness of the tax emergency.1 Western governments nod- ded their collective heads in solemn agreement. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank both confirmed that Russia was experiencing a tax collec- tion emergency and insisted that serious steps be taken.2 Never mind that the Russian government had been granting enormous tax breaks to the politically connected, including billions to Chernomyrdin’s favorite, Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly,3 and around $1 billion to Chubais’s favorite, Uneximbank,4 never mind the horrendous corruption that had been bleeding the treasury dry for years, or the nihilistic and pointless (and expensive) destruction of Chechnya.
    [Show full text]
  • WATCH February 2019 Foreign News & Perspectives of the Operational Environment
    community.apan.org/wg/tradoc-g2/fmso/ Foreign Military Studies Office Volume 9 Issue #2 OEWATCH February 2019 FOREIGN NEWS & PERSPECTIVES OF THE OPERATIONAL ENVIRONMENT EURASIA INDO-PACIFIC 3 Radios in the Russian Ground Forces 21 Chinese Military Launches Largest-Ever Joint Logistics 50 IRGC: Iran Can Extend Ballistic Missile Range 5 Northern Fleet Will Receive Automated C&C System Exercise 51 Turkey to Create Space Agency Integrating Air, Land and Sea 23 Luo Yuan Describes an Asymmetric Approach to Weaken 52 Iran’s Army Aviation Gets UAV Unit 6 The Inflatable Sentry the United States 53 Turkey to Sell ATAK Helicopters to the Philippines 7 The S-350 Vityaz Air Defense System 25 Military-Civil Fusion Cooperation in China Grows in the 54 Chinese Military and Commercial Cooperation with Tunisia 8 Bigger is Better: The T-80BVM Tank Modernization Field of Logistics 10 The Power Struggle for Control of Russia’s Arctic 27 Chinese Military Completes Release of New Set of Military AFRICA 11 The Arctic Will Have Prominent Role in 2019 Operational- Training Regulations 55 Anger in Sudan: Large Protests Against al-Bashir Regime Strategic Exercise “Center” 28 China Defends Xinjiang Program 56 Africa: Trouble Spots to Watch in 2019 12 Preparation for the 2019 Army International Games 29 Is Pakistan Acquiring Russian Tanks? 57 Can Businessmen Bring Peace in Gao, Mali? 13 Cossacks – Hybrid Defense Forces 30 Russia to Deploy Additional Anti-Ship Missile Batteries 58 Chinese Weapons in Rwanda 14 Update on Military Church Construction Near Japan by 2020
    [Show full text]
  • State Policy in the Arctic
    INFORMATION DIGEST ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE ARCTIC October 2020 KEY TOPICS: NORTHERN SEA ROUTE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF THE NORTH STATE POLICY IN THE ARCTIC 30 October 2020, TASS Alexander Krutikov: large economic projects will appear in almost all Arctic regions “The system of preferences that exists in the Arctic is different from the one in the Far East. <…> The first block of support measures was put into operation. It is meant for large economic projects that significantly change the economic environment. <…> Such projects are planned for practically every Arctic region,” shared Deputy Minister for Development of the Russian Far East and Arctic Alexander Krutikov during the roundtable organized by the Ministry and the Roscongress Foundation. The second block applies to small and medium businesses. It offers premium rebates: when a small business becomes a resident of the Arctic zone, its premium rate goes as low as 3.025%. The third block includes non-tax measures. tass.ru/ekonomika/9876979 26 October 2020, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, TASS, RIA Novosti, Regnum, etc. Vladimir Putin approved Arctic Zone Development Strategy President Vladimir Putin signed a decree approving the Arctic Zone Development Strategy and ensuring national security until 2035. Within the next three months, the Government will need to approve a unified action plan to implement the basics of the state policy in the Arctic and the afore-mentioned strategy. The Government will report on their status annually. rg.ru/2020/10/26/putin-utverdil-strategiiu-razvitiia-arkticheskoj-zony.html 26 October 2020, TASS Public Council of Russia’s Arctic Zone is chaired by President of Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North Grigory Ledkov, President of the Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East, is now the Chairman of the Public Council of Russia’s Arctic Zone.
    [Show full text]
  • Kosovo Monthly Review Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises May 2012
    CIVIL - MILITARY FUSION CEN TRE The Mediterranean Team Presents Kosovo Monthly Review Comprehensive Information on Complex Crises May 2012 INSIDE THIS ISSUE This document provides an overview of developments in Kosovo from 01—31 May with hyperlinks to source material highlighted and underlined in the text. For more information on the topics below or other Governance issues pertaining to the region, please contact the members of the Mediterranean Basin Team, or visit our Security website at www.cimicweb.org. Economic Development Humanitarian Affairs Governance Socio-Cultural Development Serbian Elections ABOUT THE CFC Tomislav Nikolic, the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) and former ultranationalist, won the runoff presidential election held 20 May with 50.21% of the vote over incumbent Presi- The Civil-Military Fusion Centre (CFC) is an information and dent Boris Tadic’s 46.77%, reports EurActive. SNS also won the most seats in the parliamentary knowledge management election on 06 May with 24%, or 73 of 250 seats, whereas Tadic’s Democratic Party won 67 organisation focused on improving seats and the Socialist Party of Serbia’s (SPS) won 44 seats. The 06 May election led to a contin- civil-military interaction, facilitating uance of the coalition between the Democratic Party and SPS, Southeast European Times information sharing and enhancing (SETimes) writes. SPS increased its representation by nearly 16%, becoming an important bloc situational awareness through the in the creation of a new and stable pro-EU government, in which Nikolic is committed to select- CimicWeb portal and our weekly ing Tadic as prime minister, as Tadic’s Democratic Party and party allies have managed to domi- and monthly publications.
    [Show full text]
  • Treisman Silovarchs 9 10 06
    Putin’s Silovarchs Daniel Treisman October 2006, Forthcoming in Orbis, Winter 2007 In the late 1990s, many Russians believed their government had been captured by a small group of business magnates known as “the oligarchs”. The most flamboyant, Boris Berezovsky, claimed in 1996 that seven bankers controlled fifty percent of the Russian economy. Having acquired massive oil and metals enterprises in rigged privatizations, these tycoons exploited Yeltsin’s ill-health to meddle in politics and lobby their interests. Two served briefly in government. Another, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, summed up the conventional wisdom of the time in a 1997 interview: “Politics is the most lucrative field of business in Russia. And it will be that way forever.”1 A decade later, most of the original oligarchs have been tripping over each other in their haste to leave the political stage, jettisoning properties as they go. From exile in London, Berezovsky announced in February he was liquidating his last Russian assets. A 1 Quoted in Andrei Piontkovsky, “Modern-Day Rasputin,” The Moscow Times, 12 November, 1997. fellow media magnate, Vladimir Gusinsky, long ago surrendered his television station to the state-controlled gas company Gazprom and now divides his time between Israel and the US. Khodorkovsky is in a Siberian jail, serving an eight-year sentence for fraud and tax evasion. Roman Abramovich, Berezovsky’s former partner, spends much of his time in London, where he bought the Chelsea soccer club in 2003. Rather than exile him to Siberia, the Kremlin merely insists he serve as governor of the depressed Arctic outpost of Chukotka—a sign Russia’s leaders have a sense of humor, albeit of a dark kind.
    [Show full text]
  • William R. Spiegelberger the Foreign Policy Research Institute Thanks the Carnegie Corporation for Its Support of the Russia Political Economy Project
    Russia Political Economy Project William R. Spiegelberger The Foreign Policy Research Institute thanks the Carnegie Corporation for its support of the Russia Political Economy Project. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Author: William R. Spiegelberger Eurasia Program Leadership Director: Chris Miller Deputy Director: Maia Otarashvili Edited by: Thomas J. Shattuck Designed by: Natalia Kopytnik © 2019 by the Foreign Policy Research Institute April 2019 COVER: Designed by Natalia Kopytnik. Photography: Oleg Deripaska (World Economic Forum); St. Basil’s Cathedral (Adob Stock); Ruble (Adobe Stock); Vladimir Putin (kremlin.ru); Rusal logo (rusal.ru); United States Capitol (Adobe Stock; Viktor Vekselberg (Aleshru/Wikimedia Commons); Alumnium rolls (Adobe Stock); Trade War (Adobe Stock). Our Mission The Foreign Policy Research Institute is dedicated to bringing the insights of scholarship to bear on the foreign policy and national security challenges facing the United States. It seeks to educate the public, teach teachers, train students, and offer ideas to advance U.S. national interests based on a nonpartisan, geopolitical perspective that illuminates contemporary international affairs through the lens of history, geography, and culture. Offering Ideas In an increasingly polarized world, we pride ourselves on our tradition of nonpartisan scholarship. We count among our ranks over 100 affiliated scholars located throughout the nation and the world who appear regularly in national and international media, testify on Capitol Hill, and are consulted by U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Russia's Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern?
    Russia’s Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern? By David Clark and Dr Andrew Foxall June 2014 Published in June 2014 by The Henry Jackson Society The Henry Jackson Society 8th Floor, Parker Tower 43-49 Parker Street London WC2B 5PS Registered charity no. 1140489 Tel: +44 (0)20 7340 4520 www.henryjacksonsociety.org © The Henry Jackson Society 2014 The Henry Jackson Society All rights reserved The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and are not necessarily indicative of those of The Henry Jackson Society or its Trustees Russia’s Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern? By David Clark and Dr Andrew Foxall All rights reserved Front Cover Image: Welding first joint of Serbian section of South Stream gas pipeline © www.gazprom.com Russia’s Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern? AUTHOR | AUTHOR By David Clark and Dr Andrew Foxall June 2014 Russia’s Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern? About the Authors David Clark is Chair of the Russia Foundation and served as Special Adviser at the Foreign Office 1997-2001. Dr Andrew Foxall is Director of the Russia Studies Centre at The Henry Jackson Society. He holds a DPhil from the University of Oxford. i Russia’s Role in the Balkans – Cause for Concern? The Henry Jackson Society The Henry Jackson Society is a cross-partisan think-tank based in London. The Henry Jackson Society is a think tank and policy-shaping force that fights for the principles and alliances which keep societies free – working across borders and party lines to combat extremism, advance democracy and real human rights, and make a stand in an increasingly uncertain world.
    [Show full text]
  • RUSSIA WATCH No.2, August 2000 Graham T
    RUSSIA WATCH No.2, August 2000 Graham T. Allison, Director Editor: Ben Dunlap Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project Production Director: Melissa C..Carr John F. Kennedy School of Government Researcher: Emily Van Buskirk Harvard University Production Assistant: Emily Goodhue SPOTLIGHT ON RUSSIA’S OLIGARCHS On July 28 Russian President Vladimir Putin met with 21 of Russia’s most influ- ential businessmen to “redefine the relationship between the state and big busi- ness.” At that meeting, Putin assured the tycoons that privatization results would remained unchallenged, but stopped far short of offering a general amnesty for crimes committed in that process. He opened the meeting by saying: “I only want to draw your attention straightaway to the fact that you have yourselves formed this very state, to a large extent through political and quasi-political structures under your control.” Putin assured the oligarchs that recent investi- The Kremlin roundtable comes at a crucial time for the oligarchs. In the last gations were not part of a policy of attacking big business, but said he would not try to restrict two months, many of them have found themselves subjects of investigations prosecutors who launch such cases. by the General Prosecutor’s Office, Tax Police, and Federal Security Serv- ice. After years of cozying up to the government, buying up the state’s most valuable resources in noncompetitive bidding, receiving state-guaranteed loans with little accountability, and flouting the country’s tax laws with imp u- nity, the heads of some of Russia’s leading financial-industrial groups have been thrust under the spotlight.
    [Show full text]
  • Putin's Syrian Gambit: Sharper Elbows, Bigger Footprint, Stickier Wicket
    STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVES 25 Putin’s Syrian Gambit: Sharper Elbows, Bigger Footprint, Stickier Wicket by John W. Parker Center for Strategic Research Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University Institute for National Strategic Studies National Defense University The Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS) is National Defense University’s (NDU’s) dedicated research arm. INSS includes the Center for Strategic Research, Center for Complex Operations, Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, and Center for Technology and National Security Policy. The military and civilian analysts and staff who comprise INSS and its subcomponents execute their mission by conducting research and analysis, publishing, and participating in conferences, policy support, and outreach. The mission of INSS is to conduct strategic studies for the Secretary of Defense, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the unified combatant commands in support of the academic programs at NDU and to perform outreach to other U.S. Government agencies and the broader national security community. Cover: Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier, August, 2012 (Russian Ministry of Defense) Putin's Syrian Gambit Putin's Syrian Gambit: Sharper Elbows, Bigger Footprint, Stickier Wicket By John W. Parker Institute for National Strategic Studies Strategic Perspectives, No. 25 Series Editor: Denise Natali National Defense University Press Washington, D.C. July 2017 Opinions, conclusions, and recommendations expressed or implied within are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Defense Department or any other agency of the Federal Government. Cleared for public release; distribution unlimited. Portions of this work may be quoted or reprinted without permission, provided that a standard source credit line is included.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Krym Nash': an Analysis of Modern Russian Deception Warfare
    ‘Krym Nash’: An Analysis of Modern Russian Deception Warfare ‘De Krim is van ons’ Een analyse van hedendaagse Russische wijze van oorlogvoeren – inmenging door misleiding (met een samenvatting in het Nederlands) Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit Utrecht op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof. dr. H.R.B.M. Kummeling, ingevolge het besluit van het college voor promoties in het openbaar te verdedigen op woensdag 16 december 2020 des middags te 12.45 uur door Albert Johan Hendrik Bouwmeester geboren op 25 mei 1962 te Enschede Promotoren: Prof. dr. B.G.J. de Graaff Prof. dr. P.A.L. Ducheine Dit proefschrift werd mede mogelijk gemaakt met financiële steun van het ministerie van Defensie. ii Table of contents Table of contents .................................................................................................. iii List of abbreviations ............................................................................................ vii Abbreviations and Acronyms ........................................................................................................................... vii Country codes .................................................................................................................................................... ix American State Codes ....................................................................................................................................... ix List of figures ......................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Fast Approval and Slow Rollout of Sputnik V: Why Is Russia's Vaccine
    Article The Fast Approval and Slow Rollout of Sputnik V: Why Is Russia’s Vaccine Rollout Slower than That of Other Nations? Elza Mikule 1,*,† , Tuuli Reissaar 1,† , Jennifer Villers 1,† , Alain Simplice Takoupo Penka 1,† , Alexander Temerev 2 and Liudmila Rozanova 2 1 Global Studies Institute, University of Geneva, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland; [email protected] (T.R.); [email protected] (J.V.); [email protected] (A.S.T.P.) 2 Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland; [email protected] (A.T.); [email protected] (L.R.) * Correspondence: [email protected] † These authors contributed equally. Abstract: The emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the beginning of 2020 led to the deployment of enormous amounts of resources by different countries for vaccine development, and the Russian Federation was the first country in the world to approve a COVID-19 vaccine on 11 August 2020. In our research we sought to crystallize why the rollout of Sputnik V has been relatively slow considering that it was the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the world. We looked at production capacity, at the number of vaccine doses domestically administered and internationally exported, and at vaccine hesitancy levels. By 6 May 2021, more first doses of Sputnik V had been administered Citation: Mikule, E.; Reissaar, T.; abroad than domestically, suggesting that limited production capacity was unlikely to be the main Villers, J.; Takoupo Penka, A.S.; reason behind the slow rollout. What remains unclear, however, is why Russia prioritized vaccine Temerev, A.; Rozanova, L.
    [Show full text]