Latest Articles about Middle East
GAZPROM MONOPOLY WILL CONTINUE TO FAVOR DOMESTIC MARKET
The state-run monopoly gas Gazprom, which aspires to become the world's largest company, has pledged to give priority to the domestic market. Relying on the government's support, it has been struggling to take over one major Eastern Siberian deposit. The Kremlin has consistently backed the... MORE
PUTIN MAKES FOREIGN POLICY ABROAD, MEDVEDEV CHAIRS SECURITY COUNCIL AT HOME
It has been almost a month since Russia embarked on its experiment in governance which features a previously all-powerful president serving “under” his successor as prime minister. However, the question of who really is in charge, President Medvedev or Prime Minister Putin, remains unanswered; and... MORE
PUTIN ENJOYS HIS MOVEABLE FEAST WITH NO WORRY ABOUT GEORGIA
Putin’s working visit to Paris last week was organized as if the French hosts wanted to emphasize that in their opinion the change of his political status was only a formality and that he remained the man in Moscow they were ready to do business... MORE
Turkey Launches Economic Offensive against PKK Recruitment
On May 27, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced over $15.5 billion in additional state funding to complete the Southeast Anatolian Project (GAP), a huge irrigation and hydroelectric scheme in nine predominantly Kurdish provinces in southeastern Turkey. Speaking in Diyarbakir, the largest city in... MORE
Is Iran’s Mujahideen-e-Khalq a Threat to the Islamist Regime?
The People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI), more commonly known as the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (“people’s mujahideen”; MEK), is one of the most organized and controversial Iranian opposition groups. Although it maintains an armed wing—known as the National Liberation Army (NLA)—and numerous front organizations, it derives its greatest... MORE
MEDVEDEV CONTINUES HARD LINE ON MISSILE DEFENSE
The main theme of President Dmitry Medvedev’s election campaign was a pledge of “continuity” of the politics of his predecessor Vladimir Putin, who is now the prime minister. The promise of continuity is being kept. Observers have been seeking out indications of change in the... MORE
DEATHS OF CORRUPTION FIGHTERS OVERSHADOW NEW ANTICORRUPTION CAMPAIGN
In the wake of President Dmitry Medvedev’s decree setting up a presidential anticorruption council to draw up a national anticorruption program (see EDM, May 21), a number of observers, including politicians, experts and journalists, have weighed in with their ideas on how best to get... MORE
RUSSIA AND CHINA: UNITED BY FOREIGN POLICY, DIVIDED BY ENERGY PRICES
The Kremlin has repeatedly pledged to forge what it calls a "strategic partnership" with China, and President Dmitry Medvedev came to the Chinese capital to reiterate these pledges. But while Moscow's and Beijing's respective positions have converged on international issues, bilateral economic ties have apparently... MORE
NORD STREAM PROJECT FACING MORE UNCERTAINTIES AND DELAYS
Nord Stream, the Russo-German gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed, seems to be receding into the distance. According to Chairman of the Russian Gas Society and Vice-Chairman of the Duma Valery Yazev, the project’s first trunk line is to become operational by 2012 and... MORE
THE KREMLIN TAKES THE SIDE OF LOCAL LEADER IN KALMYIKIA POWER STRUGGLE
This year saw a growing power struggle in the Russian southern republic of Kalmyikia where President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who has been in office since 1993, is trying to get rid of his main political rival, Rady Burulov, the mayor of the capital of Elista. In... MORE