Latest Articles about Middle East
The Mahdi Army: New Tactics for a New Stage
Iraqi radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has issued a statement describing a new strategy for attacking Coalition forces (alkufanews.com, June 13). The statement follows a year of intense military pressure against his Jaysh al-Mahdi (JAM) militia and a series of confusing and sometimes contradictory decisions.... MORE
Is There a Nexus between Torture and Radicalization?
A great deal of debate surrounds the factors driving the brand of radical Islam in the Middle East that inspires some individuals to commit acts of violence. A recurring theme in extremist discourse is opposition to incumbent authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. For radical... MORE
THE KREMLIN PROMOTES EASTERN PIPELINE PROJECT
The Kremlin is giving its strong support to the construction of the Eastern Siberia Pacific Oil Pipeline (ESPO), apparently viewing it as an important economic and foreign policy tool. The pipeline was planned to promote faster growth of the Russian Far East, and Russian President... MORE
INVESTIGATIVE COMMITTEE UNVEILS “CONCEPTUAL DESIGN” FOR FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION
Work on the national anti-corruption plan recently ordered by President Dmitry Medvedev (see EDM, June 18, May 21 and 28) is moving ahead. A spokesman for the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General’s Office (SKP), Vladimir Markin, told Interfax on June 25 that the SKP... MORE
EUROPEANS REMISS ON NABUCCO, ILLUSION-PRONE ON SOUTH STREAM
The European Union’s current presiding country, Slovenia, has decided to join Gazprom’s South Stream pipeline project, rival to the EU’s top-priority Nabucco project. The Slovenian government announced this decision in the third week of June, with less than two weeks remaining in its presidential term.... MORE
Can Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Iran Lead to a Strategic Partnership?
Turkish Land Forces Commander General Ilker Basbug surprised some by announcing a partnership between Turkey and Iran in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization (Cumhuriyet, June 6). In fact, the debate on choosing Iran as a close partner is not new.... MORE
Fighting in Lebanon’s Palestinian Refugee Camps Result of Increased Islamist Influence
Approximately a year has passed since the outbreak of violence between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the armed Islamist group Fatah al-Islam in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in Northern Lebanon; and yet—one year later—the situation in the camps is far from... MORE
A TRAP FOR MEDVEDEV IN THE TNK-BP CONFLICT
Political salons in Moscow are bubbling with rumors about President Dmitry Medvedev’s liberal agenda, but in a peculiar way, with Russia’s sports victories in ice hockey and football adding credibility to these expectations. Medvedev himself generates new hope daily, meeting tirelessly with all sorts of... MORE
CRITICS TARGET DECISION TO LET STABILIZATION FUND INVEST IN RUSSIAN SECURITIES
Last week President Dmitry Medvedev gave Russia’s Finance Ministry and Central Bank until October 1 to draft proposals on the investment strategy of the country’s Stabilization Fund. In February of this year, the fund, which was created in 2004 as a reserve to ensure that... MORE
MOSCOW READY FOR MAJOR CONFRONTATIONS WITH PRO-WESTERN GEORGIA AND UKRAINE
In the past Russia strongly protested the expansion of NATO to include Central European states that were Soviet clients and former Warsaw Pact members during the Cold War, as well as the Baltic republics that were part of the Soviet Union. In the end, however,... MORE