I have listed below some suggested readings on the topics on the agenda for next Wednesday [Oct. 29]. There's a lot of material, and I do not expect you to read it all. Pick and choose which ones interest you. I am sure there will be more articles in our local newspapers and the NY Times before Wednesday -- and I haven't finished reading this week's Economist.

Please let me know if you have any trouble opening these URLs. Simply click on the underlined link (or copy and paste them into the URL line at the top of your browser page).

Gordon Canyock

The CIA's World Factbook is a good general reference work on foreign nations. It is accessed at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

Wikipedia on the Russian Economy: http://tinyurl.com/yk7gry

RU and OPEC, Moscow Times 23 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/5n43km
RU Gas Cartel, Eurasianet 22 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/5qwp7
Impending Financial Crisis, RFE/RL 28 Sep: http://tinyurl.com/5reblv
Oligarchs Hurting, RFE/RL 20 Oct:   http://tinyurl.com/5ua6xq
Gazprom, RFE/RL 19 Oct:  http://tinyurl.com/682q3w
Foreign Capital, CBondS 23 Oct:  http://tinyurl.com/55yppg
Impact on Space Pgm, Boston Globe 24 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/6zfkvj

RAND 2001: http://tinyurl.com/5leg4h
NYTimes Op-Ed 25 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/67dpec

National Interest, Oct: http://tinyurl.com/6gxfv9
Exercise "Stability 2008" (overview), NYT 20 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/5ucu9n
Personnel Cuts, RIA Novosti, 26 Oct: http://tinyurl.com/55ff4y