CDDRL Number 113 WORKING PAPERS May 2009
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OPERATION NEMTSOV”: 307 Disinformation, Confusion MARCH and Some Worrying Hypotheses 2015
Centro de Estudios y Documentación InternacionalesCentro de Barcelona E-ISSN 2014-0843 D.L.: B-8438-2012 opiniónEuropa “OPERATION NEMTSOV”: 307 Disinformation, confusion MARCH and some worrying hypotheses 2015 Nicolás de Pedro, Research Fellow, CIDOB Marta Ter, Head of the North Caucasus department at the Lliga dels Drets dels Pobles he investigation into the assassination of Boris Nemtsov reminds previ- ous ones on high-profile political killings, although the uncertainties grow with every new revelation. The verified, documented connec- Ttion between the main suspect, Zaur Dadayev, and Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechen strongman and close ally of Putin strengthens the theory linking the crime to the Kremlin and suggests possible internal fighting within the state security apparatus. Nemtsov joins a long list of critics and opponents who have been assassinated in the last fifteen years. Among the most prominent are:Sergey Yushenkov, member of parliament for the Liberal Russia party (assassinated on April 17th, 2003); Yuri Shchekochikhin, journalist on the Novaya Gazeta (July 3rd, 2003); Paul Klebnikov, US journalist of Russian origin and editor of the Russian edition of Forbes (July 9th, 2004); Anna Politkovskaya, journalist for Novaya Gazeta (October 7th, 2006); Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB/FSB agent (November 23rd, 2006); and Na- talya Estemirova, human rights activist for the Chechen branch of the NGO Me- morial (July 15th, 2009). Each of these assassinations has its own particularities, but none has been properly explained and all of the victims were people who dis- comfited the Kremlin. Despite this, political motivations and possible connections with state apparatus are the only lines of investigation that have been systemati- cally ignored or explicitly denied in all of these cases. -
The Killing of William Browder
THE KILLING OF WILLIAM BROWDER THE KILLING OF WILLIAM BROWDER Bill Browder, the fa lse crusader for justice and human rights and the self - styled No. 1 enemy of Vladimir Putin has perpetrated a brazen and dangerous deception upon the Weste rn world. This book traces the anatomy of this deception, unmasking the powerful forces that are pushing the West ern world toward yet another great war with Russia. ALEX KRAINER EQUILIBRIUM MONACO First published in Monaco in 20 17 Copyright © 201 7 by Alex Krainer ISBN 978 - 2 - 9556923 - 2 - 5 Material contained in this book may be reproduced with permission from its author and/or publisher, except for attributed brief quotations Cover page design, content editing a nd copy editing by Alex Krainer. Set in Times New Roman, book title in Imprint MT shadow To the people of Russia and the United States wh o together, hold the keys to the future of humanity. Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like the evil spirits at the dawn of day. Thomas Jefferson Table of Contents 1. Bill Browder and I ................................ ................................ ............... 1 Browder’s 2005 presentation in Monaco ................................ .............. 2 Harvard club presentation in 2010 ................................ ........................ 3 Ru ssophobia and Putin - bashing in the West ................................ ......... 4 Red notice ................................ ................................ ............................ 6 Reading -
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. -
Russia's 2012 Presidential Election
Russia’s 2012 Presidential Election: Yet Another Term for Putin? By Paweł Piotr Styrna l February 27, 2012 The next presidential election in post-Soviet Russia is scheduled for March 4, 2012. The roster of candidates Russian voters can choose from is rather limited, both in terms of the number of candidates and their backgrounds. The upcoming contest pits five candidates against each other: the Sovietonostalgic chekist, Vladimir Putin; the unreconstructed and unrepentant communist, Gennady Zyuganov; the socialist - and long-time Chairman of the Federation Council (Russia’s upper house) - Sergey Mironov, the nominee of the “Just Russia” Party; the infamous, rabid chauvinist, Vladimir Zhirinovsky; and the “independent” oligarch, Mikhail Prokhorov. Not surprisingly, all these men embody different, yet often overlapping, facets of post-communism. One will notice the conspicuous and telling absence of a conservative, Christian, anti-communist alternative of the Alexander Solzhenitsyn variety. This seems to correspond with what some have argued to constitute one of the essential features of post-communism (particularly in the former USSR), i.e. an ostensible political pluralism serving as a façade, disguising an establishment jealously guarding the post-communist status quo, and attempting to marginalize threats to it. Thus, the faux pluralism appears designed to cater to multiple ideological persuasions in society without jeopardizing the main continuities between communism-proper and post-communism, not to mention the privileges, perks, and golden parachutes retained or acquired by the post-communist oligarchy. This is not to claim that the post-bolshevik establishment is a monolith or that no spheres of freedom exist, but that these are significantly limited. -
Mr. Chairman, I Welcome the Opportunity to Appear Before The
Mr. Chairman, I welcome the opportunity to appear before the Helsinki Commission to discuss the current situation in Russia and the concerns of all of us about the Putin government and the future of Russia. First, I wish to emphasize the value of the Commission’s mandate and stated criteria to promote compliance with the fundamental standards of civil society in Russia and the other former Soviet republics. Second, those of us who have witnessed first-hand the travesty of justice in Russia much appreciate the concerns expressed by the co-chairmen about the improper handling of the Yukos trial and the sentencing of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and his colleagues by Russian authorities. Your formal statement to the world’s press that the “case appears to the world to be justice directed by politics” and that the “selective prosecution such as appears to be the case here will wreak havoc on Russia’s legal system” reflects that the chairmen of this commission have an accurate view of the Khodorkovsky trial and the weakened state of the legal system in Russia. Third, it is vitally important that the Helsinki Commission continue monitoring the implementation of the provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords as they relate to Russia and report its findings to the public. While the U.S. Administration and Congressional leaders must necessarily balance many variables in the bilateral relationship, the Helsinki Commission has a clear mandate to insure that human rights and basic freedoms are maintained in the countries under its jurisdiction. Mr. Chairman, it is my opinion that the rule of law is the cornerstone of civil society because it serves to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens. -
Boris Nemtsov 27 February 2015 Moscow, Russia
Boris Nemtsov 27 February 2015 Moscow, Russia the fight against corruption, embezzlement and fraud, claiming that the whole system built by Putin was akin to a mafia. In 2009, he discovered that one of Putin’s allies, Mayor of Moscow City Yury Luzhkov, BORIS and his wife, Yelena Baturina, were engaged in fraudulent business practices. According to the results of his investigation, Baturina had become a billionaire with the help of her husband’s connections. Her real-estate devel- opment company, Inteco, had invested in the construction of dozens of housing complexes in Moscow. Other investors were keen to part- ner with Baturina because she was able to use NEMTSOV her networks to secure permission from the Moscow government to build apartment build- ings, which were the most problematic and It was nearing midnight on 27 February 2015, and the expensive construction projects for developers. stars atop the Kremlin towers shone with their charac- Nemtsov’s report revealed the success of teristic bright-red light. Boris Nemtsov and his partner, Baturina’s business empire to be related to the Anna Duritskaya, were walking along Bolshoy Moskovo- tax benefits she received directly from Moscow retsky Bridge. It was a cold night, and the view from the City government and from lucrative govern- bridge would have been breathtaking. ment tenders won by Inteco. A snowplough passed slowly by the couple, obscuring the scene and probably muffling the sound of the gunshots fired from a side stairway to the bridge. The 55-year-old Nemtsov, a well-known Russian politician, anti-corrup- tion activist and a fierce critic of Vladimir Putin, fell to the ground with four bullets in his back. -
Redalyc.Full Spectrum Operations: the Rationale Behind the 2008
Revista Científica General José María Córdova ISSN: 1900-6586 [email protected] Escuela Militar de Cadetes "General José María Córdova" Colombia Fernández-Osorio, Andrés Eduardo Full Spectrum Operations: the Rationale Behind the 2008 Russian Military Reform? Revista Científica General José María Córdova, vol. 13, núm. 15, enero-junio, 2015, pp. 63-86 Escuela Militar de Cadetes "General José María Córdova" Bogotá, Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=476247223003 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Revista Científica General José María Córdova, Bogotá, Colombia, enero-junio, 2015 Estudios militares - Vol. 13, Núm. 15, pp. 63-86 issn 1900-6586 Cómo citar este artículo: Fernandez-Osorio, A. E. (2015, enero-julio). Full Spectrum Operations: the rationale behind the 2008 Russian Military Reform?. Rev. Cient. Gen. José María Córdova 13(15), 63-86 Full Spectrum Operations: the Rationale 2 Behind the 2008 Russian Military Reform?* Recibido: 05 de enero de 2015 l Aceptado: 20 de febrero de 2015. Operaciones militares de espectro total: ¿fundamento de la Reforma Militar Rusa de 2008? Des opérations militaires à spectre complet: le raisonnement caché derrière la réforme militaire russe de 2008? Operações de pleno espectro: a lógica subjacente da Reforma das Forças Armadas da Rússia de 2008? Andrés Eduardo Fernández-Osorioa * Research paper based on the first and second chapter of the author’s master dissertation, completed at University College London, United Kingdom and National Research University - Higher School of Economics, Russian Federation. -
The Siloviki in Russian Politics
The Siloviki in Russian Politics Andrei Soldatov and Michael Rochlitz Who holds power and makes political decisions in contemporary Russia? A brief survey of available literature in any well-stocked bookshop in the US or Europe will quickly lead one to the answer: Putin and the “siloviki” (see e.g. LeVine 2009; Soldatov and Borogan 2010; Harding 2011; Felshtinsky and Pribylovsky 2012; Lucas 2012, 2014 or Dawisha 2014). Sila in Russian means force, and the siloviki are the members of Russia’s so called “force ministries”—those state agencies that are authorized to use violence to respond to threats to national security. These armed agents are often portrayed—by journalists and scholars alike—as Russia’s true rulers. A conventional wisdom has emerged about their rise to dominance, which goes roughly as follows. After taking office in 2000, Putin reconsolidated the security services and then gradually placed his former associates from the KGB and FSB in key positions across the country (Petrov 2002; Kryshtanovskaya and White 2003, 2009). Over the years, this group managed to disable almost all competing sources of power and control. United by a common identity, a shared worldview, and a deep personal loyalty to Putin, the siloviki constitute a cohesive corporation, which has entrenched itself at the heart of Russian politics. Accountable to no one but the president himself, they are the driving force behind increasingly authoritarian policies at home (Illarionov 2009; Roxburgh 2013; Kasparov 2015), an aggressive foreign policy (Lucas 2014), and high levels of state predation and corruption (Dawisha 2014). While this interpretation contains elements of truth, we argue that it provides only a partial and sometimes misleading and exaggerated picture of the siloviki’s actual role. -
Briefing Paper
Strasbourg, 6 September 2011 CommDH(2011)21 Original version REPORT by Thomas Hammarberg Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe Following his visit to the Russian Federation from 12 to 21 May 2011 Issues reviewed: Human rights situation in the North Caucasus Federal District (Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, the Chechen Republic and Ingushetia) CommDH(2011)21 Summary Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg and his delegation visited the Russian Federation from 12 to 21 May 2011. In the course of the visit the Commissioner held discussions on the most serious human rights problems in the North Caucasus Federal District with representatives of the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation and with local authorities, as well as non-governmental organisations. Since the Commissioner’s previous visit, there has been an increased emphasis on the socio-economic development of the North Caucasus Federal District, and the implementation of a strategy aiming to improve the investment climate, fight corruption and address unemployment is ongoing. Despite these positive steps to improve the quality of life of the people living in the region, the situation in the North Caucasus continues to present major challenges for the protection of human rights. The Commissioner paid particular attention to the persisting problem of impunity for serious human rights violations, and seeks through the present report to identify remaining obstacles to accountability and to formulate recommendations with a view to ensuring that those responsible for such violations are brought to justice. The present report focuses on the following major issues: I. Counter-terrorism measures The number of security incidents in Chechnya and Ingushetia has declined following a relative peak in 2009, and the frequency of such incidents in North Ossetia-Alania is comparatively low. -
ASD-Covert-Foreign-Money.Pdf
overt C Foreign Covert Money Financial loopholes exploited by AUGUST 2020 authoritarians to fund political interference in democracies AUTHORS: Josh Rudolph and Thomas Morley © 2020 The Alliance for Securing Democracy Please direct inquiries to The Alliance for Securing Democracy at The German Marshall Fund of the United States 1700 18th Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 T 1 202 683 2650 E [email protected] This publication can be downloaded for free at https://securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/covert-foreign-money/. The views expressed in GMF publications and commentary are the views of the authors alone. Cover and map design: Kenny Nguyen Formatting design: Rachael Worthington Alliance for Securing Democracy The Alliance for Securing Democracy (ASD), a bipartisan initiative housed at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, develops comprehensive strategies to deter, defend against, and raise the costs on authoritarian efforts to undermine and interfere in democratic institutions. ASD brings together experts on disinformation, malign finance, emerging technologies, elections integrity, economic coercion, and cybersecurity, as well as regional experts, to collaborate across traditional stovepipes and develop cross-cutting frame- works. Authors Josh Rudolph Fellow for Malign Finance Thomas Morley Research Assistant Contents Executive Summary �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 1 Introduction and Methodology �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� -
Biosecurity in Putin's Russia
EXCERPTED FROM Biosecurity in Putin’s Russia Raymond A. Zilinskas and Philippe Mauger Copyright © 2018 ISBN: 978-1-62637-698-4 hc 1800 30th Street, Suite 314 Boulder, CO 80301 USA telephone 303.444.6684 fax 303.444.0824 This excerpt was downloaded from the Lynne Rienner Publishers website www.rienner.com Contents List of Tables and Figures vii Acknowledgments ix 1 Putin’s Direction in the Biosciences 1 Notes 6 2 The Legacy of the Soviet Union’s Biological Warfare Program 7 The First-Generation Program, 1928–1971 7 The Second-Generation Program, 1972–1992 9 Legacy in Russia 10 Conclusions 23 Notes 25 3 Russian Biosecurity and Military Modernization 33 Russia’s Military R&D Doctrine 35 Biosecurity Threat Perceptions and Biodefense Programming 51 A Warning Sign: The Hawks Within the NBC Troops 66 Conclusions 68 Annex 3.1 Selected Russian Documents and Statements 75 Annex 3.2 Russia’s Science and Technology Priorities Since 2002 76 Notes 77 4 Biodefense and High-Technology Research and Development 87 Russian Ministry of Defense Institutions 91 Military Institutions Responsible for Advanced Weapons Acquisition Planning and R&D 115 Select Military-Industrial Complex Institutions 125 Civilian Research Institutes with Biodefense Roles 131 v vi Contents Open Financial Flows Throughout Both Military and Civilian Networks 154 Conclusions 159 Annex 4.1 A 2008 NBC Troops’ Tender Describing Future Infrastructure Work 162 Annex 4.2 Russia’s Scientific Electronic Library: eLibrary.ru 165 Notes 167 5 Civilian Bioscience and Biotechnology Since 2005 199 Developments in Biotechnology 200 Federal Programs, 2005–2016 207 Case Study 1: Consolidation of Russian Pharmaceutical Production 227 Case Study 2: Space Biology Projects 235 Case Study 3: Reforming the Russian Academies 240 Conclusions 249 Annex 5.1 Excerpts from Science in Siberia no. -
Global Expansion of Russian Multinationals After the Crisis: Results of 2011
Global Expansion of Russian Multinationals after the Crisis: Results of 2011 Report dated April 16, 2013 Moscow and New York, April 16, 2013 The Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, and the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment (VCC), a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York, are releasing the results of their third survey of Russian multinationals today.1 The survey, conducted from November 2012 to February 2013, is part of a long-term study of the global expansion of emerging market non-financial multinational enterprises (MNEs).2 The present report covers the period 2009-2011. Highlights Russia is one of the leading emerging markets in terms of outward foreign direct investments (FDI). Such a position is supported not by several multinational giants but by dozens of Russian MNEs in various industries. Foreign assets of the top 20 Russian non-financial MNEs grew every year covered by this report and reached US$ 111 billion at the end of 2011 (Table 1). Large Russian exporters usually use FDI in support of their foreign activities. As a result, oil and gas and steel companies with considerable exports are among the leading Russian MNEs. However, representatives of other industries also have significant foreign assets. Many companies remained “regional” MNEs. As a result, more than 66% of the ranked companies’ foreign assets were in Europe and Central Asia, with 28% in former republics of the Soviet Union (Annex table 2). Due to the popularity of off-shore jurisdictions to Russian MNEs, some Caribbean islands and Cyprus attracted many Russian subsidiaries with low levels of foreign assets.