THE NEWSLETTER / JULY, 2009       Site map

14.07.2009 The SRAS Newsletter A Resource for Students, Educators, and Anyone Curious about Russia     Obama speaks at the Parallel Business Summit in Moscow, July 7, 2009. Picture from Reuters.com Welcome from SRAS! SRAS presents a special edition of its monthly newsletter devoted to intensive coverage of the recent US-Russia summit. This major foreign policy visit and speech received considerably less news coverage than did earlier visits and speeches, which concentrated on US relations with Europe and the Muslim world. However, it was no less important. Most analysts agree that Washington will not be able to achieve its goals of, for example, containing North Korea and Iran's nuclear ambitions without Russia. Also, since the US and Russia control 95% of the world's existing nuclear stockpiles, keeping those stockpiles regulated is an important global issue. Much work is left to be done, but for Russia watchers, understanding exactly what happened at this summit is a prerequisite to understanding what will happen later in US-Russia relations. We think you will find this especially dense newsletter, loaded with links to streaming videos and online articles, a very useful tool for doing so. If you have views or material you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please contact us. To subscribe to this free newsletter, send an email with "Subscribe SRAS" in the subject field to jwilson@sras.org. News and Announcements SRAS announces program dates and deadlines for 2010. Plan early to make sure you get a space and have time to research funding and travel options! Programs available: Politics and Oil; Russian as a Second Language; Kyrgyz Focus; Russian Studies Semester; Siberian Studies; Bordertalk: Sino-Russian Relations; and The Russian Far East. Facebook: Post-Soviet Higher Education in the Social Sciences and Humanities is a new networking group meant for those interested in Russia and registered on Facebook. Stories for Good brings together writers, translators, editors, designers, publishers and booksellers to create works whose proceeds are donated to Russian charities. A Research Fellow / Senior Research Fellow in Energy Politics is being sought for a one year placement with the Department of Russian and Eurasian Studies, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------   Обзоры: Learn About Russia and Eurasia through the News These news reviews strive to paint an accurate and balanced picture of life in Russia and to deliver information on important events affecting Eurasia. Find events in: BC; QU; SW; UK; AZ; DC; HI; IN; KS; MA; MI; NC; OH; PA, 2, 3 More Events Russian Society Civil society, demographics, media, education, and more.                                            News from Eurasia Manas Air Force Base; Biden to go to Ukraine, Georgia; Belarus in "milk war;" Russian parties win Baltic elections.                                 Domestic Politics Politicians, political parties, the opposition, and Russia's regions.                                    Foreign Policy How Russia gets on with its "far abroad."                                                             How the News is Reported in Russia Market closed in Moscow; Putin protests pork prices; Death of Michael Jackson.                                     Russian Economy Economic sectors, foreign trade, and government intervention. SRAS's Summer Reading List! Newly released books on history, politics, and language. We've got something for everyone! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Run-Up Russia watchers and foreign policy think tanks were busy holding conferences and issuing policy suggestions in the run-up to the Moscow summit. Most were united in suggesting that Obama should seize the chance to improve US-Russia relations but should also hold firm on issues important to America. This was true, to varying degrees, of material issued by The Center for American Progress, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, The Council on Foreign Relations, and Harvard's Belfer Center. Obama's AP interview In an interview on the eve of his Moscow trip, Obama stated that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business," which left many wondering what the diplomatic purpose and value of such a statement might be. Some contrasted this to Dmitry Medvedev's much less politically charged video blog statement released in the run-up to the summit. Video of that in the original Russian is also available. Meanwhile, Obama's pre-trip interviews with Russian media, such as with Novaya Gazeta and Rossiya Channel, seemed very carefully worded. Speech at the New Economic School Billed as Obama's "third major foreign policy speech," Obama addresses missile defence, issues surrounding NATO, Georgia, and Ukraine. He argues that a strong civil society is a precondition for a successful state, and that the economic success of any country is intertwined with the economic success of others. He does all this in language that is meant to appeal to Russia's values, its culture, and its sense of its own history. Text is also available. See also a short array of opinions on the speech offered by Reuters.   Obama meets the Russian Patriarch. They also had a short private meeting. On US-Russian Business Presidents Obama and Medvedev addressed a business conference arranged by the US-Russia Business Council, the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, the Russian Union of Industrial Entrepreneurs, and others. They set up a presidential commission that is, in part, charged with encouraging US-Russia trade. Neither address details the problems currently facing this challenge, but a Bloomberg interview with AmCham Russia President Andrew Somers does address some major issues. AmCham Russia has also created an "Obzor" of media coverage about the event. For those who can understand Russian, coverage of the event by Russia's RBC television channel goes into even more depth from the Russian point of view. For a completely no-holds-barred estimation of the challenges of doing business in Russia, see coverage of a recent Helsinki Commission hearing featuring the testimony of businessman William Browder. В итоги Presidents Obama and Medvedev announced several major agreements on issues of arms reductions, military cooperation, and nuclear, scientific, economic cooperation and more. Both leaders discussed these agreements at length in a joint press conference held at the end of the first day. All agreements will need to be discussed by the leaders' respective governments and many will face steep debate including the deal on nuclear arms. Obama's second day was occupied by an array of meetings with people as diverse as Prime Minister Putin, civil society and opposition leaders such as Gary Kasparov and Boris Nemstov, business leaders, former soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, and Patriarch Kirill, the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church. This approach of splitting his outreach to government, business, and civil society seems to have been very successful, with nearly all those involved reporting positively on the outcome. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Work-Study: Translation SRAS's Work Study: Translation Program is a practical academic program offering intensive Russian lessons and professional, hands-on translation experience. Diplomats Need Language Skills Eight former secretaries of state have published an article stating that "sending diplomats abroad without language skills is like deploying soldiers without bullets." Semester Abroad Increases Creativity Scientific American recommends that the recently graduated or retired—or those who have some unexpected free time thanks to the recession—consider the benefits of an extended trip abroad. SRAS has a full range of study programs. Click here! Scholarships and Grants Thousands of dollars are available for study abroad. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ссориться по-русски – Fighting in Russian In honor of the efforts to "reset" Russian-American relations, this month SRAS's Russian Mini-Lesson looks at fighting and reconciliation - both as occur between individuals and between countries.   Peace Corp Guide to Culture This short e-booklet provides a brief introduction to understanding different cultures and the culture shock inherent in submersing yourself in a new culture. Чебурашка - Cheburashka Cheburashka is a now classic Russian cartoon character created by the Russian author Eduard Uspensky in 1965. Still wildly popular today, Cheburashka was the mascot for the Russian Olympic team in 2004, 2006, and 2008 and the character's image continues to be used to market everything from toys to toothpaste. The YouTube video in the link above gives an excellent introduction to the character in Russian with (amateur) English subtitles. You should also make sure to check out the melancholy "Gena's Song," (in Russian, no subtitles) sung by Cheburashaka's friend, Gena the Crocodile, which nearly every Russian knows by heart. It's about about how birthdays come but once a year. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you have views or material you would like to contribute to the newsletter, please contact us. 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