Latest Articles about Middle East
SOLZHENITSYN PRAISED BY POLITICIANS ACROSS RUSSIA’S POLITICAL SPECTRUM
Russians have been reacting to the death of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and paying tribute to the Nobel Prize winning writer and dissident, who died on August 3 at the age of 89. Interfax quoted former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev as saying, “Until the end of his... MORE
DUUMVIRATE IS TESTED AS MEDVEDEV SPEAKS UP AGAINST PUTIN
On a routine trip to Smolensk Oblast last week, President Dmitry Medvedev rather uncharacteristically took a firm stance: “In our country it is very important what signals get sent. The signal has now been sent.” The essence of the message was unmistakable: There should be... MORE
RUSSIA PURSUES ENERGY PARTNERSHIP WITH CHINA
The Kremlin has dispatched Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin to China in order to boost bilateral energy ties. Sechin reportedly reassured Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that Russia was ready to work with China to fulfill bilateral agreements, and develop energy cooperation. Sechin also delivered a... MORE
KREMLIN REVISES COSTS FOR EXPENSIVE SOUTH STREAM PROJECT
On July 29, the Russian government made public a hefty increase in its cost estimate of Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline project. Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko reevaluated the cost at $20 billion, and stated that even this figure is an interim one, pending another financial... MORE
RUSSIAN OFFICIALS AND MEDIA HAIL DEAL CEDING ISLANDS TO CHINA
Russia moved to finalize its border arrangements with China in an apparent bid to prop up its bilateral “strategic partnership.” On July 21, Russia and China signed an agreement that finally settled the demarcation of their 4,300-kilometer (2,672-mile) border, the longest land frontier in the... MORE
RUSSIAN CORRUPTION: AN EVIL TO ERADICATE OR A NECESSARY “LUBRICANT”?
Russia’s political class is continuing to debate the issue of corruption, with some observers again expressing doubts that President Dmitry Medvedev’s anti-corruption drive will succeed where past efforts failed (see EDM, June 11 and 25). A veteran crime fighter has even suggested that corruption has... MORE
Political Consensus Missing in Establishment of U.S. Military Bases in Iraqi Kurdistan
Recent reports suggest that the United States may establish long-term military bases in Iraqi Kurdistan. According to the Gulf News, “U.S. forces could be stationed permanently in Kurdistan as part of a long-term security agreement, top Kurdish political sources revealed... The Iraqi government and head... MORE
ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS ARE WORRISOME FOR THE MEDVEDEV-PUTIN “TANDEMOCRACY”
The experimental power-sharing construct in Russia with authoritative Vladimir Putin as prime minister and very active Dmitri Medvedev as president has been working remarkably smooth so far, as the two leaders have been extra careful to avoid any incoherence in their performance. The presidential administration... MORE
PUTIN’S ATTACK ON MECHEL – ANOTHER SILOVIKI POWER PLAY?
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week accused the Russian coal and steel producer Mechel of price-fixing and made a veiled threat against the company’s owner, Igor Zyuzin. Critics say Putin’s comments, which caused the value of Mechel’s shares to plummet 33 percent, show that despite... MORE
PKK Kidnappings an Isolated Initiative or a New European Strategy?
The seizure in eastern Turkey on July 8 of three German mountaineers by a unit of the People’s Defense Force (HPG), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), was the first time in more than a decade that the organization had kidnapped Western... MORE