Dear friends of the Russia & America Good Will Association (RAGA.org) and antiwar colleagues!
RAGA is happy to join the American University in Moscow and the American Committee for East-West Accord (Американский комитет за согласие между Востоком и Западом) in saluting our Russian counterparts on Russia's National Day on June 12.

AMERICA SALUTES RUSSIA On Its June 12 National Day Russia is a friend, not a foe. Both nations need a strong alliance to jointly meet the world’s enormous security challenges

RAGA also welcomes the greeting of Secretary of State John Kerry to Russian people on Russia's National Day.

John Kerry
Secretary of State
Washington, DC
June 10, 2015

I congratulate the people of Russia as you celebrate your National Day on June 12.

Today is an appropriate moment to reflect on the deep connections that exist between Russian and American culture — from Balanchine's "Jewels" to Brodsky's "Urania," Rostropovich to Tolstaya, Baryshnikov to Rothko. Through the decades, freedom of expression and thought have produced great artistic and intellectual accomplishments that have enriched lives and lifted spirits in both our countries and lie at the heart of what each can offer the world.

This year also marks the 90th anniversary of Vladimir Mayakovsky's epic journey through the United States, memorialized in his "My Discovery of America." Mayakovsky's words are a powerful reminder of the importance of people-to-people ties in fostering mutual understanding and respect.

As we mark the 70th anniversary of end of World War II this year, we also honor the tremendous shared sacrifice of those who fought against Nazism, including the millions of Russians who fought in the great battles and the millions who lost their lives.

On this special day, the United States joins the Russian people in celebrating the many links that bind our two nations; may the citizens of both share in a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic future.

http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/06/243340.htm

ВАШИНГТОН, 11 июн — РИА Новости, Дмитрий Злодорев. Госсекретарь США Джон Керри поздравил в среду россиян с национальным праздником — Днем России, который отмечается 12 июня, сообщает Госдепартамент.

Примечательно, что второй год подряд поздравление Керри имеет культурный уклон. Если в прошлом году он упоминал в тексте своего послания Пушкина, Лермонтова и Ахматову, то теперь отметил, что "сейчас правильный момент для того, чтобы вспомнить глубокие связи между российской и американской культурой — от Джорджа Баланчина до Иосифа Бродского, от Мстислава Ростроповича до Александры Толстой (младшей дочери Льва Толстого — ред.), от Михаила Барышникова до (художника Марка) Ротко".

Керри также напомнил "об отмечаемом в нынешнем году 90-летии эпического путешествия Владимира Маяковского по США, отмеченного его произведением "Мое открытие Америки". По мнению Керри, "слова Маяковского являются сильным напоминанием важности связей на уровне народов для укрепления взаимопонимания и уважения".

"Отмечая 70 лет с момента окончания Второй мировой войны, мы также чтим огромную общую жертву, принесенную теми, кто боролся с нацизмом, включая миллионы русских, которые сражались и отдали свои жизни", — сказал Керри.
Он также выразил надежду на "мирное, процветающее и демократическое будущее".
День России — один из самых молодых государственных праздников в РФ. В этот день, 12 июня, в 1990 году первый Съезд народных депутатов РСФСР принял Декларацию о государственном суверенитете России. Официальное название "День России" закрепилось за праздником в 2002 году.

РИА Новости http://ria.ru/world/20150611/1069359252.html#ixzz3clxa25eM

Sincerely,
W George Krasnow (=Vladislav Krasnov)
President, RAGA

All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org

Dear friends of the RAGA and antiwar colleagues!

I did not mean to bother you during Summer. But my desk is overwhelmed with news begging to be shared.

1. Defeat of the Patriot Act as a victory for both Ed Snowden and presidential hopeful Sen. Rand Paul, the most peace-loving Republican who is likely to opt for better relations with Russia.
   
2. Professor Juan Cole THANKS Ed Snowden for his defense of civil rights in the US.
   
3. Russell Bonne Bentley, a bone fide American, denounces--from Donbas!--US government meddling in Ukraine.
   
4. James Carden of The Nation denounces the return of "McCarthyism" to US Media.
   
5. Russian Intelligence specialist Leonid Reshetnikov: Russia is a target of Western hostility because it’s a cradle of a new world paradigm.
   
6. US Navy Admiral Stavridis: read Russian classics to see the silliness of sanctions.
   
7. American Committee for East-West Accord is BORN.
   

In spite of the current flare-up of hostilities in Donbas and in spite of John Kerry's fateful mishap with a broken leg, we hope that the signs of thaw in US-Russia relations during Mr. Kerry's visit to Sochi on May 12, 2015 were not deceptive and augur an over-all normalization.

Now please absorb more of the above by opening the links of your choice.

1. Sen. Rand Paul seems to have defeated The Patriot Act:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/some-nsa-surveillance-powers-set-to-expire-sunday-unless-senate-acts/2015/05/31/42f215a2-066c-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

The NSA’s collection of phone records began in secret after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and was later authorized, also in secret, by a court under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act — the provision that is set to expire. The continuation of the program and its justification were revealed in 2013 by Snowden.

This victory comes on top of the Federal Appeals court in New York May 7, 2015, decision that bulk collection of electronic records is illegal. This decision showed that Edward Snowden's defection was not in vain. As an act of civil disobedience it generated a debate to strengthen civil rights of all Americans. 

 2. "Thank You, Edward Snowden: An End to General Warrants as So-Called Patriot Act Expires"
Published: June 2, 2015 | Authors: Juan Cole | Truthdig | Op-Ed
http://www.nationofchange.org/2015/06/02/thank-you-edward-snowden-an-end-to-general-warrants-as-so-called-patriot-act-expires/
<<It should be underlined that these steps toward restoration of Americans’ privacy would not have occurred without the revelations of Edward Snowden about just how out of control the National Security Agency has been. Even senators like Ron Wyden of Oregon, who knew what the US government was doing in secret, could not openly blow the whistle because they would have instantly been arrested.>>

3. Snowden is not the only American patriot willing to stick his neck out for truth and justice. See this video of Russel Bonne Bentley, nick-named "Texas," in the worn-torn Gorlovka

Robin Westenra June 1 at 4:46pm A MESSAGE TO AMERICANS: 
An American volunteer arrives at the scene of Horlivka (Gorlovka) shelling, appeals to Americans Seemorerocks: Atrocity in Horlivkarobinwestenra.blogspot.com

http://robinwestenra.blogspot.co.nz/2015/06/atrocity-in-horlivka.html
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Atrocity in Horlivka
If you are American (and I know YOU care) please spread this message far and wide

4. James Carden's article below makes it clear why some American's, like Mr. Bentley, feel frustrated by inability to express their opinion in the USA 

Date: May 20, 2015 at 2:27:23 PM EDT
Neo-McCarthyism and the US Media

The crusade to ban Russia policy critics
This article appeared in the June 8, 2015 edition of The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/article/207689/neo-mccarthyism-and-us-media#

Carden describes the new anti-Russian zealots funded by Khodorkovsky: <<The report, titled “The Menace of Unreality: How the KremlinWeaponizes Information, Culture and Money,” is a joint project of the Interpreter and the Institute for Modern Russia (IMR), a Manhattan-based think tank funded by the exiled Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky. Cowritten by the journalists Michael Weiss and Peter Pomerantsev, this highly polemical manifesto makes the case for why the United States, and the West generally, must combat what the authors allege to be the Kremlin’s extravagantly designed propaganda campaign. If implemented, the measures they propose would stifle democratic debate in the Western media.>>

5. Leonid Reshetnikov, former Russian Foreign Intelligence: Russia is a target because it’s a cradle of a new world paradigm
Translated by Kristina Rus
http://themillenniumreport.com/2015/04/russian-foreign-intelligence-chief-russia-is-a-target-because-its-a-cradle-of-a-new-world-paradigm

TMR Editor’s Note:
Leonid Petrovich Reshetnikov, the Director of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies, provides valuable insight into the Russian perspective on the current state of world affairs. The following interview clearly delineates the primary reasons why Russia is being aggressively targeted by the West.
<<Because our country is not just a territory, it is a separate huge civilization that brought its own world paradigm to the entire world. First of all, of course, the Russian Empire as a model of the Eastern Orthodox civilization. The Bolsheviks destroyed it, but produced a newcivilizational idea. Now we are at the gates of the third. And we will see it in 5-6 years.>>

6. Admiral Stavridis. My friend and RAGA longtime associate Jeff Steinberg of the La Rouche movement sent me this link: 
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/02/what-russian-literature-tells-us-about-vladimir-putins-world/# 
What Russian Literature Tells Us About Vladimir Putin’s World
The country's great authors put Russia in context better than any intel briefing can.

BY JAMES STAVRIDIS, JUNE 2, 2015

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/02/what-russian-literature-tells-us-about-vladimir-putins-world/#
While reading Stavridis keep in mind that he is not just a retired four-star U.S. Navy admiral, but also currently the dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
As a former professor of Russian studies and teacher of Russian literature, I congratulate the admiral for daring to traverse the turbulent sea of Russian literature and get a good catch!
<<Think the Russians will crack under sanctions? Try reading One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, the 1962 novel by dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn. His protagonist, a convict in a Siberian gulag, finds a hundred ways to scrape through the day, dealing with the petty corruption, laughing at the predicaments, occasionally reveling in the harsh conditions of his imprisonment, and powerfully exhibiting the ability to overcome adversity.>>


7. The best news, from Stephen Cohen, come at the end: The American Committee for East-West Accord (ACEWA) is finally BORN, just on time to help Mr. Kerry heal his broken leg and return to the business of genuine diplomacy.   

 eastwestaccord.com

Mission Statement of The American Committee for East-West Accord

The American Committee for East-West Accord is a nonpartisan, tax-exempt educational organization of American citizens from different professions — business, academia, government service, science, law, and others — who are deeply concerned about the possibility of a new (potentially even more dangerous) cold war between the United States/Europe and Russia. Our fundamental premise is that no real or lasting American, European, or international security generally is possible without essential kinds of stable cooperation with Russia.

RAGA and myself are happy to see among ACEWA's founders several of our favorite authors, such as Gilbert Doctorow, Stephen Cohen, and Ambassador Jack Matlock. Good Luck to all!


Malice to None. Good Will  to All. 
Peace and Justice to the World.
миру мир и благоволение в сердцах

 From RAGA site:
"We are an association of Americans who believe it is in the U.S. national interests to foster friendship with Russia on the basis of mutual Good Will and non-interference in each other's affairs. RAGA is a gathering of people who share common interests in Russia's history, culture, religion, economy, politics and the way of life. We feel that Russian people have made outstanding contributions to humankind and are capable of greater achievements. We envision Russia as a strong, independent, proud and free nation and as a partner in achieving peace in the world."

Sincerely,
W George Krasnow (=Vladislav Krasnov)
President, RAGA

All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org

Having just completed a two week stay in St. Petersburg — I visit every 6 weeks or so — I would like to share some observations on the political and economic situation in Russia. As I see it, both the Schadenfreudeposition of American and other Western political commentators who celebrate any signs of suffering from sanctions and the rosy reports of many authors in the “pro-Russia” camp err substantially. The situation on the ground is both better and worse than these diametrically opposed commentators would have us believe.

Firstly, I say assuredly that the mood across the social spectrum of my “sources” is uniformly patriotic and uncomplaining. These sources range from the usually outspoken taxi drivers; through the traditionally critical journalists, academics, artists and other intelligentsia who are family friends going back many years; to former business contacts and other elites. I did not hear a word about corruption, price gouging, inflation or the disappearance from the market of favorite imported items. Instead, there was determination to withstand whatever pressures the United States and the West generally apply against Russia. Support for Vladimir Putin was a minor if persistent motif within the broader melody of Russian patriotism.

There was also a conscious choice among these sources to buy Russian, including to find holiday destinations within Russia rather than abroad. One concrete example: The principal of a music high school who normally vacations in Djerba, Tunisia is taking a two-week river boat cruise down the Volga. Or I think of the widely traveled editor-publisher of an internet magazine who is sunbathing in Sochi right now rather than in Tuscany. Cost-cutting is not the driver. It is just saying ‘no’ to Russia’s detractors abroad.

Secondly, I say with equal conviction that the economy is doing badly and a great many people are being hurt. Small entrepreneurs have been put out of business. The large corporates are struggling, and all the skills of their management are called upon in this challenging environment to stay afloat.

Yes, the supermarkets are well stocked. Food products which formerly came from the EU are now being sourced elsewhere, but are not wanting. Prices have gone up substantially since my last visit two months ago. Some say they have risen by a third. Others say by less. The abruptness of the change reflects the appearance on store shelves of replacement stocks for the nonperishable food and beverage items which dated from before the ruble devaluation and which finally were exhausted. The new prices match European wide prices translated into the current disadvantageous exchange rate. At the same time, some domestic vegetables have risen in price, as producers take advantage of the market opportunity and move well ahead of any possible rises in their own costs.

But the fall in the value of the ruble and associated inflation is the least of the problems today. They will self-correct when and if oil prices rise. The tougher and more painful problem is generalized contraction of business activity. Partly this is due to people tightening their belts, cutting back on little pleasures in times of uncertainty. One bellwether is the Stockmann’s supermarket at the head of Nevsky Prospekt. Until this latest visit, I would take a number at the deli counter and wait my turn behind six or eight shoppers ahead of me. Now I took a number and was served at once. This isn’t so say things are looking desperate. The Ikea Megamarket in the Dybenko residential neighborhood was still doing well when I stopped by, with shoppers queuing up at all cash registers: recession is not yet depression!

Another cause of the fall-off in business activity is without doubt US and EU sanctions, meaning the cut-off of foreign credits, the inability of the Russian majors to roll over hard currency debt. Friends in the finance industry explained that the sell-off of assets to meet credit calls hit the stock market. This, in turn, produced shock waves in the banking and insurance sectors, including weaknesses at such major institutions as Uralsib Bank and at big Russian insurers, whose portfolios were devalued, forcing them to abandon various sectors and let go a great many employees. Weakening banks, the jacked up interest rates to protect the currency against further speculation — all have taken a toll on private entrepreneurs, the little guys who were starved of working capital to finance their stocks and meet payrolls. Those in the West who said that they designed the sanctions in such a way as to spare the people and only punish the fat cats around Vladimir Putin should be made aware of the very different reality.


As I discovered on a walking tour of the business and residential blocks in downtown St. Petersburg that I frequent regularly, the past couple of months has seen many offices and shops shuttered. Hairdressers, boutiques selling ladies’ handbags, eateries, all kinds of service outlets closed down, ending the aspirations of many hard-working self-employed folks. Their numbers will likely not appear in unemployment statistics. No flicking of a switch will bring them back.

Another sign of the hard times came when I visited my bank branch specializing in renting safe deposit boxes to the public. Such boxes are widely used by buyers and sellers of apartments, dachas and other real estate, since they take the place of escrow accounts: the purchase funds placed in the boxes are made available to the sellers when they submit the deed of state registration of transfer of ownership. The bank was empty, whereas in the past it has always been a beehive of activity. The much reduced staff confirmed to me that transactions have dried up. This means the secondary market in real estate has shut down.

Meanwhile the Russian government reports an ongoing boom in residential construction, which, in the case of St. Petersburg is confirmed by the high-rise cranes operating in bedroom community suburbs and by the ubiquitous advertisements for new housing projects in the metro and buses. There is no contradiction here: the new construction is supported by government subsidies on mortgage loans, while the secondary market is left to languish at market rates which preclude mortgages.

Finally, I want to share some essential new information on the challenges facing Russian agriculture, which is generally cited as a beneficiary of the sanctions and leading indicator in the emergence from crisis. The information comes not from personal observations but from privileged sources from within the industry’s own newsletters to which I have access. One of the country’s largest importers and distributors of agricultural machinery has just negotiated with its bond holders in Russia and abroad their acceptance of a conversion of their debt instruments into equity. The reason for this exchange, which surely was not wished for by investors, has been the sharp fall-off in the company’s sales volumes, itself a result of reduced access of farming enterprises to bank credits. The government has been slow in reversing course and reinstating subsidies for bank loans to farmers which had been cut following WTO accession.

The same importer has now opened a new side-line selling used agricultural equipment. The opportunity arose for reasons that are not good for the Russian economy: leasing companies have had to take back equipment from farms that have closed voluntarily or under bankruptcy proceedings, and they must dispose of this equipment in fire sale conditions.

Meanwhile, the dairy industry, which is one of those most favored by the government due to excessive levels of imported to native-grown milk, is suffering from surplus spring production and the insufficient processing capacities to absorb the overflow as cheese, powdered milk, etc. Producer prices have fallen below cost, which is hardly an incentive to farmers to add to their dairy herds.

Why are these problems under-reported in Russia media? I will hazard a guess. Old habits die hard: Russian journalists are not very sympathetic to business and are not quick to see the interconnection between profitable businesses and the welfare of the public at large. However, for the government to take timely measures in the ongoing crisis situation and prevent long term negative consequences, it would be better if the pain so many people are experiencing were given due coverage and explained.


© Gilbert Doctorow, 2015

G. Doctorow is an occasional guest lecturer at St. Petersburg State University and Research Fellow of the American University in Moscow. His latest book, Stepping Out of Line: Collected (Nonconformist) Essays on Russian-American Relations, 2008-12, is available in paperback and e-book from Amazon.com and affiliated websites worldwide.

All statements in this report are an opinion of the author. Act at your own risk. Russia & America Goodwill Association (RAGA) is not responsible for the content of the article. Any views or opinions presented in this report are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RAGA. Any liability in respect to this communication remain with the author.

RAGA News
www.RAGA.org