The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Decline of Free Speech Alexander Podrabinek 29 April 2014 On April 29, Russia’s Federation Council passed a law that tightens government control over the dissemination of information on the Internet and treats bloggers as journalists. A week earlier this so-called “antiterrorism package” was adopted by the State Duma. According to writer Alexander Podrabinek, this law fits in with the current trend in Russia of giving the government a free hand while imposing restrictions on citizens. Free speech is currently going through tough times in Russia—although it has never really had it easy there. Censorship, both explicit and covert, has always undermined society’s ability to receive and disseminate information and literature. Suffice to recall that the nation’s first censorship code (known as the Izbornik Code) was formulated in 1703, whereas its first literary work, “Slovo o Polku Igoreve” (“The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”), was not discovered until a century

‘We Won’t Invade Ukraine,’ Russian Military Chief Tells Chuck Hagel David Stout   5:00 AM ET         Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivers remarks before signing the Department of Defense Human Goals Charter at the Pentagon, April 28, 2014 in Arlington, Va. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu promised U.S. counterpart Chuck Hagel this week that the Kremlin won't send in troops massed along Ukraine's border into the country, as pro-Russian separatists in the restive region have requested RECOMMENDED FOR YOU A Russian Roadtrip Does the U.S. Always Need an Enemy? An Army Vet Returns from War to Her Bronx Neighborhood by Taboola Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel  received “assurance” from his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoygu, on Monday that the Kremlin would not send troops amassed on its western border with Ukraine, where separatist forces have called for Moscow’s assi

Landov WRITTEN BY Josh Rogin Eli Lake facebook tweet post WORLD NEWS   04.29.14 Kerry: U.S. Taped Moscow’s Calls to Its Ukraine Spies The secretary of state claimed in a private meeting that the U.S. intelligence community has recordings of pro-Russian forces being managed by government handlers in Moscow. The United States has proof that the Russian government in Moscow is running a network of spies inside eastern Ukraine because the U.S. government has recordings of their conversations, Secretary of State John Kerry said in a closed-door meeting Friday. “Intel is producing taped conversations of intelligence operatives taking their orders from Moscow and everybody can tell the difference in the accents, in the idioms, in the language. We know exactly who’s giving those orders, we know where they are coming from,” Kerry said at a private meeting of the Trilateral Commission in Washington. A recording of Kerry’s remarks was obtained by The Daily Beast. Kerr