Dear CCI followers,

Finally, Graham Fuller, former U.S. senior CIA official and author of numerous books on the Middle East, makes sense of the Middle-East and Syria dilemma today––in addition to the highly confusing situation in which our country has been knee-deep in for decades. Our media sees Syria and the region as a U.S.-Russia confrontation. Even as Fuller makes clear the history, high level Democrats and Republicans alike are still against pulling our soldiers out and stopping wars in the region.

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UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY: LAVROV SAYS WEST IS WASTING ITS TIME TRYING TO UNDERMINE RUSSIA’S PARTNERSHIP WITH CHINA; PUTIN REFERS TO RUSSIA & CHINA AS “ALLIED RELATIONSHIP”; UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT REITERATES THAT HIS PRIORITY AS PRESIDENT IS TO END DONBAS WAR WHILE U.S. STATE DEPT. APPROVES $39M IN MILITARY AID TO KIEV

Natylie’s Place
October 17, 2019
Natylie Baldwin

In a huge blow to the editorial board of the NYT, Russian FM Sergey Lavrov, in his speech to the UN General Assembly last month, said that the west’s attempts to undermine the partnership between Russia and China are a waste of time.

To reinforce the point, in his October 3 remarks at the Valdai conference, president Putin referred to Russia’s relationship with China as “an allied relationship in the full sense.” He also announced that Russia will be helping China create an early warning missile defense system:

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Natylie’s Place
October 14, 2019
Natylie Baldwin

Professor Nicolai Petro

A couple of weeks ago, I conducted an email interview with Nicolai N. Petro, professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island, on the state of democracy in today’s Russia, after having read his eye-opening 2018 journal article, “Are We Reading Russia Right?” His full biography is below the interview.

1)  In your 2018 article, “Are We Reading Russia Right?” you attempt to correct some misconceptions many in the west have about the state of democracy in Russia.  You point out, for example, that Russia has a much more diverse media that includes anti-Putin reportage and opinion.  Can you explain for readers a bit more about Russia’s media landscape and what percentage of the media that state TV actually consists of and what the demographics are who consume state TV vs. other types of media?

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Dear  CCI Friends,

America’s Ambassador to Russia is leaving his post. His outgoing message questions America’s foreign policy toward Russia. This comes as a spate of American and European VIP’s have begun speaking out about the U.S.’s demonization of Putin and Russia, and our refusal to use diplomacy and negotiation. At the same time, the U.S. is resorting to sanctions that not only don’t work, but have made Russia more resilient and have taken a toll on our European allies (and their relationships with us). This has strained the relationship between the U.S. and the EU. Thankfully Ambassador Huntsman wasted no time letting his points of view be known.

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