Russia, politics and power: internal & external(new title)

[Beelzebubalicious]

The brainy don caught for tax evasion....I wonder how many oligarchs pay taxes? anyone know what the percentage of Russian citizens pay taxes? How many are prosecuted? Not that it really matters...

The bigger story is the links to New York Bank, and alleged sales of arms and tanks to Iran...He laundered $10 billion through the Bank of New York in the 90s, but...

Last year the company settled its part of a federal investigation into a Russian money laundering ring, agreeing to pay $26 million in fines and repay $12 million in fees to other banks that may have lost money.

Ouch - that almost hurt

http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/17/bon..._0517suit.html

Also note that:

Russia’s customs service said that it was suing the Bank of New York for $22.5 billion (£11.3 billion) in compensation for an alleged money-laundering scheme in which US companies colluded with Russian banks to defraud its Government.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle1805811.ece

I wonder now if "Russia's Customs Service" will now be compensated for the wrongs done to them by this bad, bad man...

Of course, all these excesses of the 90s are now cleaned up and our illustrious financial institutions have much tighter controls...

I'm sorry, but the only way to approach this subject is to pour on the sarcasm and let it drip...

[Surferbeetle]

The View from Moscow

Ironically, at the beginning of the twentieth century the Soviets were fiercely ideological, and the West was essentially practical and pragmatic. Now, the Russians have transformed themselves into raw-and-ready capitalists, and the West is lecturing them on values. From the Russian perspective, there is no absolute freedom anywhere in the world, no perfect democracy, and no government that does not lie to its people. In essence, all are equal by virtue of sharing the same imperfections. Some are more powerful than others, how-ever, and that is what really counts.

http://www.carnegieendowment.org/pub...19111&prog=zru

[Surferbeetle]

ACCORDING to VeriSign, one of the world’s largest internet security companies, RBN, an internet company based in Russia’s second city, St Petersburg, is “the baddest of the bad”. In a report seen by The Economist, VeriSign’s investigators unpick an extraordinary story of blatant cybercrime that implies high-level political backing.

www.economist.com (Aug 30, 2007 Article ... you will need a subscription)

[carl]

www.economist.com (Aug 30, 2007 Article ... you will need a subscription)[/QUOTE]

the article is posted free here:

http://www.europeanvoice.com/archive...e.asp?id=28753

[Stan]

Brian Krebs on Computer Security at the Washington Post has gone even further into this subject. A quick read with some excellent links and graphics.

Mapping the Russian Business Network

...McQuaid, who helps run the American Red Cross's IT networks, said the people behind RBN have taken notice that some network providers have chosen to block traffic originating from the St. Petersburg provider. ...he's recently seen attackers on RBN hiding the source and destination of their traffic by routing it through compromised home computers in the United States and in Europe as a way to evade blocking filters...

"What we're seeing now is RBN and some Chinese hacker groups are taking over machines in the U.S. and hosting malware or launching attacks from those machines, mainly because they realize their IP space is increasingly being blocked by the rest of the world,"

SWC Council Member JeffC also has some great insight into the RBN

[Surferbeetle]

One simple question. That's all it took for Christophe Bisciglia to bewilder confident job applicants at Google (GOOG). Bisciglia, an angular 27-year-old senior software engineer with long wavy hair, wanted to see if these undergrads were ready to think like Googlers. "Tell me," he'd say, "what would you do if you had 1,000 times more data?"

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine...tm?chan=search

Stan,

Thanks for the link. RBN and some it's ramifications are interesting stuff. Estonia seems to be an interesting place and I wonder if the cyberattack on it impacted you in any way that you would be interested in sharing? I found Praque to be a fun place but that's as far east as I have gone in Europe.

I spent a little time yesterday looking at salt, hash functions, SHA-1, usenet, and of course wondering about the strength of my sooper dooper virus protection. The geek engineer in me loves this stuff but my soldiering side knows the power of a man on the scene with a gun.

Jeff - C,

This is one of the points where I have been hopping off the side of the pool into the water (brrgghh) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Business_Network do you have any other suggestions?

Steve

[kaur]

The number of sites on the Russian Internet grew by 66 percent in 2007, and the total number of such sites is on track to top two million by the end of 2008, the study said. But only one in five of the dot RU domains is located outside of the Russian capital, and their number is growing slightly more slowly than that in Moscow.
Approximately 57 percent of Muscovites now go online regularly, the study concluded, while only 40 percent of those in other Russian cities of more than 100,000 currently do so. And in small cities and rural areas, the figure is still below 20 percent, although that number is growing.

http://windowoneurasia.blogspot.com/...se-varies.html

[Surferbeetle]

From today's NYT

There have been some recent successes, but they are short-lived. On Nov. 11, the volume of spam, which transports the malware, dropped by half around the globe after an Internet service provider disconnected the McColo Corporation, an American firm with Russian ties, from the Internet. But the respite is not expected to last long as cybercriminals regain control of their spam-generating computers.

“Modern worms are stealthier and they are professionally written,” said Bruce Schneier, chief security technology officer for British Telecom. “The criminals have gone upmarket, and they’re organized and international because there is real money to be made.”

[Beelzebubalicious]

Ironically, I think the biggest hindrance to the spread of spam and viruses is the poor quality of the English in these messages. I routinely get clever and well designed spam with some horrible English errors.

[Stan]

...Russia's top military commander said on Saturday that the country is prepared to use its nuclear weapons to defend itself and allies in the event of a severe external threat.

The Chief of the Russian General Staff, Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, told a conference at the Academy of Military Sciences in Moscow: "We do not intend to attack anyone, but consider it necessary that all our partners clearly understand, and that no one has any doubts, that the Armed Forces will be used to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, including preventative action, and including the use of nuclear weapons."

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans last August, and on December 12, 2007 imposed a unilateral moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty...

[kaur]

I'm trying to figure out what countries are on the list of Russia's allies whose security problems can be solved with nuclear weapons. I can find zero

[Stan]

I ran across this Russian Defense Forum trying to figure out just who is/are considered allies

Scroll down to Russia's Allies thread.

EDIT: Baluyevsky added

...that Russia would use nuclear weapons and carry out preventive strikes only "in cases specified by the doctrinal documents of the Russian Federation."

Retired General Vladimir Dvorkin, formerly a top arms control expert with the Defense Ministry, said he saw "nothing new" in Baluyevsky's statement. "He was restating the doctrine in his own words," Dvorkin said.

Moscow-based military analyst Alexander Golts said that when Russia broke with stated Soviet-era policy in the 2000 doctrine and declared it could use nuclear weapons first against an aggressor, it reflected the decline of Russia's conventional forces in the decade following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

"Baluyevsky's statement means that, as before, we cannot count on our conventional forces to counter aggression," Golts said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "It means that, as before, the main factor in containing aggression against Russia is nuclear weapons."

[Stan]

MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned over NATO's expansion, which is aimed at building up its military potential around Russian borders rather than strengthening European security...

..."it is clear that NATO is building up its military potential around our borders and its new members continue to increase their defense budgets".

"This policy cannot resolve any security problems..."

NATO has signaled its backing for the recent bids by Russia's former Soviet allies, Georgia and Ukraine, to join the alliance, a move that has infuriated Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that the country would have to take "appropriate measures" if Ukraine were to join NATO.

[Ron Humphrey]

MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned over NATO's expansion, which is aimed at building up its military potential around Russian borders rather than strengthening European security...

this shows my ignorance of the overarching circumstances, but just what exactly would they expect these nations to be doing considering their historic let alone more recent action, and statements?

Is this just bluster from a particular segment of their politik or is this a large scale issue within their society. The opportunities for mutually beneficial interaction within the international community are numerous. Where does the seeming need to have some sort of machismo prominence take precedence over reality of circumstance.

The only thing we continually hear from the governance is they must be respected, they must be regarded as important in this or that context.

Doesn't the same rule that applies to every person on earth apply to them.

In order to be respected one must show respect, in order to be a leader one must first be led.

[Stan]

I think it's paramount to first consider Russian perceptions and how their history still dictates current thinking -- the threat of domination from western powers.

Where are these ‘allies’ that they boast are now under their first strike nuclear umbrella? Serbia or better yet the break away Kosovo? NATO is probably being viewed as taking land that Russia had for years and now their (strong arm tactics) influence in the region is dwindling. Even if Serbia was a self-declared Russian ally, how would Russia otherwise support them with NATO nations between the two?

Georgia and The Ukraine threaten Russia’s southern flank with NATO membership and even further isolation. The Baltic States are literally a thorn in their side, and the USA wants to plant missile defense batteries in Poland (to defend exactly who?). We'll need a rocket scientist for that one

Following General Yury Baluyevsky's comments about the use of nuclear weapons are two significant comments from:

Retired General Vladimir Dvorkin, formerly a top arms control expert with the Defense Ministry, said he saw "nothing new" in Baluyevsky's statement. "He was restating the doctrine in his own words…"

Moscow-based military analyst Alexander Golts said that when Russia broke with stated Soviet-era policy in the 2000 doctrine and declared it could use nuclear weapons first against an aggressor, it reflected the decline of Russia's conventional forces in the decade following the 1991 Soviet collapse.

"Baluyevsky's statement means that, as before, we cannot count on our conventional forces to counter aggression," Golts said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "It means that, as before, the main factor in containing aggression against Russia is nuclear weapons."

Obviously the Russians don’t understand…whom, given the choice of the current regime or NATO wouldn’t go west?

We’ve been smokin' along (and over them) since the early 90’s and, IMO they agreed because they had no other choice. Well, those days (for now) are gone.

[Stan]

MOSCOW, January 26 (RIA Novosti) - Russia is concerned over Ukraine's drive to join NATO, which may seriously harm Russian-Ukrainian relations, the Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"The desire to accelerate [Ukraine's] accession to this military-political bloc, expressed by the Ukrainian leadership, will entail serious consequences for the development of Russian-Ukrainian relations and will harm European security in general...

Last week, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko handed over a request for Ukraine to join NATO's Membership Action Plan to the alliance's secretary general, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. The Action Plan is a necessary step on the path to eventual full membership of the organization.

Meanwhile, members of the Party of Regions and the Communist Party of Ukraine have urged the country's leadership to recall the request for NATO membership, claiming that such a step was only possible after a referendum.

On Friday, Russian lawmakers terminated an agreement with Ukraine on early warning and space monitoring systems, citing Ukraine's failure to provide adequate technical support to radar facilities located on its territory.

[Surferbeetle]

"Oil transforms a Russian outpost" from the June edition of National Geographic. They have spiffed up the attached map from the EIA but I am unable to find National Geo's map to upload.

The pumping heart of the boom is western Siberia's boggy oil fields, which produce around 70 percent of Russia's oil—some seven million barrels a day. For Khanty-Mansi, a territory nearly the size of France, the bonanza provides an unparalleled opportunity to create modern, even desirable living conditions in a region whose very name evokes a harsh, desolate place. Khanty-Mansi's regional capital, scene of the holiday revelries, is being rebuilt with oil-tax proceeds. The new structures include an airport terminal (once a wooden shack with an outhouse), an art museum featuring paintings by 19th-century Russian masters, and a pair of lavishly equipped boarding schools for children gifted in mathematics and the arts. Even the provincial town of Surgut, a backwater only a few decades ago, is laying out new suburbs and is plagued by traffic jams.

[kaur]

The Problematic Pages

by Leon Aron
To understand Vladimir Putin, we must understand his view of Russian history.
Post Date Wednesday, September 24, 2008

On June 18, 2007, a national conference of high school historians and teachers of social sciences was convened in Moscow. The agenda called for the discussion of "the acute problems in the teaching of modern Russian history," and for "the development of the state standards of education." It soon became clear that the real purpose of the gathering was to present to the delegates--or, more precisely, to impress upon them--two recently finished "manuals for teachers." One of them, to be published in a pilot print run of ten thousand, was called Noveyshaya Istoriya Rossii, 1945-2006 GG: Kniga Dlya Uchitelya, or The Modern History of Russia, 1945-2006: A Teacher's Handbook. It was the work of a certain A.V. Filippov, and it was designed to become the standard Russian high school textbook of Russian history, scheduled to be introduced into classrooms this month.

http://www.tnr.com/booksarts/story.h...8-5875a0ce6fb6

Flirting with Stalin.

"Dear friends! The textbook you are holding in your hands is dedicated to the history of our Motherland… from the end of the Great Patriotic War to our days. We will trace the journey of the Soviet Union from its greatest historical triumph to its tragic disintegration."

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/a...s.php?id=10356

[bismark17]

Sigh.....I guess the blackhats will again be singing that old cadence, "Hey Mother Russia, you better behave or we will fill your skies with maroon berets...."

[kaur]

Nationalism of Putin’s Era Veils Sins of Stalin’s

The Kremlin in the Putin era has often sought to maintain as much sway over the portrayal of history as over the governing of the country. In seeking to restore Russia’s standing, Mr. Putin and other officials have stoked a nationalism that glorifies Soviet triumphs while playing down or even whitewashing the system’s horrors.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/27/wo...chives.html?hp