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Commons Library brief on Ukraine

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  •   Mar-18-2014
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As the debate on Ukraine proceeds in the Commons, I’m once again delighted to discover so much expertise which was hitherto wasted. Having spoken to Ukrainians protesting outside Downing Street about 10 days ago, I’m grateful that the House of Commons Library has produced this briefing: Ukraine, Crimea and Russia (PDF, 48 pages, 1.443 MB). From the Summary: In November 2013, the Ukrainian government of Viktor Yanukovych decided that it would not sign an Association Agreement and a Deep and Comprehensive […]

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Spy chiefs fear Chinese cyber attack – Times Online

INTELLIGENCE chiefs have warned that China may have gained the capability to shut down Britain by crippling its telecoms and utilities. They have told ministers of their fears that equipment installed by Huawei, the Chinese telecoms giant, in BT’s new communications network could be used to halt critical services such as power, food and water supplies. The warnings coincide with growing cyberwarfare attacks on Britain by foreign governments, particularly Russia and China. via Spy chiefs fear Chinese cyber attack – […]

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The New Cold War, Edward Lucas

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  •   Feb-22-2009
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A fascinating book by The Economist‘s Central and East European correspondent, Edward Lucas: First a medieval fortress and then the citadel of Soviet totalitarianism, the Kremlin’s rose-red walls have rarely made lovers of liberty and justice feel at home. It is as if Britain’s government were based in the Tower of London, or France’s in the Bastille. Certainly the ideas now bubbling under its onion domes would have been all too familiar to its past occupants: put bleakly, Russia is […]

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Gas supplies to Europe dry up as row between Russia and Ukraine deepens – Times Online

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  •   Jan-6-2009
  •   Business, Politics
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Gas supplies from Russia to Europe plummeted overnight with four countries reporting a complete halt as the dispute between Moscow and Ukraine over payment rates dramatically worsened. Kiev said that Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, had cut the flow by 60 per cent following Vladimir Putin’s threat yesterday to punish Ukraine for allegedly stealing fuel it is supposed to allow to transit through its pipelines en route to Europe. via Gas supplies to Europe dry up as row between […]

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Back to the USSR

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From the Guardian: Tanks rolling into neighbouring countries, the media back under state control and Kremlin policy shrouded in secrecy … Luke Harding reports on why Russia seems hellbent on reverting to its Soviet past. … “The Soviet Union had global ambitions. It believed in socialism and social justice. Now the main ideological idea is nationalism and anti-Americanism. There are no positive ideas any more, only negative ones,” Kryshtanovskaya [Russia’s leading sociologist] says. read more | digg story

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In Hard Times, Russia Moves In to Reclaim Private Industries — NY Times

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  •   Dec-10-2008
  •   Business, Politics
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Mr. Putin, the former president and current prime minister, has long maintained that Russia made a colossal error in the 1990s by allowing its enormous reserves of oil, gas and other natural resources to fall into private hands. He has acted uncompromisingly — most notably in the case of the Yukos Oil Company in 2003 — to get them back. Now, the Kremlin seems to be capitalizing on the economic crisis, exploiting the opportunity to establish more control over financially […]

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Russian wheat as a foreign policy tool

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  •   Sep-27-2008
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Today’s Telegraph reports: The largest wheat harvest in 15 years is expected to yield 51 million tons, of which a record-breaking 15 million are earmarked for export. Only the US and Canada are expected to export more. Growing influence in the Middle East and more collaboration in the energy sector, plus increasing Kremlin control: a story to watch?

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Telegraph: “Russian Foreign Minister’s ‘F-word’ Tirade at Miliband”

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  •   Sep-13-2008
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The unhappy state of diplomacy in the hands of New Labour: David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, was subjected to a tirade of four-letter abuse when he spoke to his Russian counterpart over the country’s invasion of Georgia. One unconfirmed report suggested that Mr Lavrov said: “Who are you to f—— lecture me?” read more | digg story

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The Russian Social Democrats

It was not without reason that the Russian Social Democrats, better known to history as the Bolsheviks, decided in November 1917 to call themselves “Communists”. And so “The Black Book of Communism” is proving an interesting read: But socialist revolution for Marx was not just a matter of economic development; it was at bottom an eschatological “leap from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom.” Mises, Friedman and Hayek have something to say about that: Marx was wrong. […]

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Constitutions and democracy

Mark Mardell points out that the French are changing their constitution to avoid a referendum: The French politicians from both houses were meeting to change the constitution so they could go ahead with the adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon. I do wonder at the imperative among Europe’s political elite that makes them behave in this manner. If they are so sure their electorates would say “no” to this messy constitution, surely the only democratic response is to take a […]

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Steve Baker is the Conservative MP for Wycombe.

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