Latest Articles about Middle East
Istanbul Bombings Suggest PKK Insurgency May Be Entering a More Ruthless Phase
The July bombings in Istanbul have raised concerns that the 24 year-old insurgency of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) may be entering a new, more ruthless phase. At around 9:45 PM on July 27, a percussion bomb exploded in a garbage can on Menderes Caddesi,... MORE
PRIME MINISTER DOMINATES ECONOMIC, FOREIGN AND SECURITY POLICY
The recent controversy surrounding the coal and steel producer Mechel has sparked speculation about a rift between President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. In a meeting with metals tycoons in Nizhny Novgorod on July 24, Putin accused Mechel of selling coking coal, one... MORE
GAZPROM’S EUROPEAN EXPANSION DILEMMA
Gazprom’s web in Europe continued to expand when the Russian state-owned gas monopoly announced that it would begin supplying gas to Ireland through its subsidiary Gazprom Marketing and Trading. Precise terms of the deal, however, have not been revealed. (Moscow Times, July 5). Gazprom plans... MORE
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