Latest Articles about Middle East
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
RUSSIA’S ROSNEFT CLAIMS MARKET LEADERSHIP
Russia's state-run oil company Rosneft pledged to maintain its self-proclaimed role of market leader. It now appears that the company's acquisition-based model of expansion will be put to the test. Rosneft emerged as leader of Russia's energy sector in 2007, and the company was set... MORE
ARE MEDVEDEV’S LATEST PROMISES TO FIGHT CORRUPTION SIMPLY “RITUAL INCANTATIONS”?
Acting on his promises to battle corruption, instill respect for the law and overcome “legal nihilism,” President Dmitry Medvedev has signed a decree setting up a presidential anticorruption council and appointed Kremlin chief of staff Sergei Naryshkin to head the council’s presidium, which will have... MORE
Leading PKK Commander Cemil Bayik Crosses into Iran
On May 10, the Turkish General Staff posted a press release on its web site which stated: “As a result of the Turkish air strike on the Qandil Mountains, a senior PKK commander, Cemil Bayik, fled into a neighboring country together with a large group... MORE
Iraqi Government Launches Operation to Expel al-Qaeda from Mosul
After four days of a preparatory operation code-named Za’eer al-Asad (The Lion’s Roar), Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki arrived in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul to supervise a new military operation against al-Qaeda in Ninawa (Nineveh) province (al-Jazeera, May 14). Al-Maliki was accompanied by... MORE
OBSERVERS DEBATE WHETHER THE SILOVIKI HAVE WON OR LOST
The general consensus about the personnel changes in the Kremlin administration and cabinet of ministers that have been made in the week and a half since Dmitry Medvedev was inaugurated president and Vladimir Putin was named his prime minister is that the reshuffle has meant... MORE
THE NORTH CAUCASUS IS THE KEY SECURITY CHALLENGE FOR PRESIDENT MEDVEDEV
Virtually all the political talk in Moscow since the beginning of last week and, probably, for weeks to come, has been about the new appointments in the government and the presidential administration. It is indeed exciting to speculate about the declining influence of the siloviki... MORE
PJAK in Northern Iraq: Tangled Interests and Proxy Wars
The Kurdish area in northern Iraq has become one of the most complex fronts in the war in Iraq, a place where Iranian, Turkish, Kurdish, Iraqi and American interests clash. An often perplexing role in the region’s conflicts is played by the Party for a... MORE