Latest Articles about Middle East
IT TAKES TWO RUSSIAN PRESIDENTS TO TANGO WITH U.S.
Pushing his ballot into the ballot box during Russia’s shamelessly fixed presidential elections on March 2, Dmitry Medvedev announced that he was feeling good because spring had arrived. At that moment, the statement appeared perfectly senseless, as the weather in Moscow happened to be pretty... MORE
KREMLIN MOVES AGAINST U.K. INTERESTS IN RUSSIA
Following last week’s raids on the Moscow offices of TNK-BP, the 50/50 joint venture between British Petroleum and three Russian oligarchs, the Federal Security Service (FSB) filed industrial espionage charges against Ilya Zaslavsky, a TNK-BP employee, and his brother Alexander, who heads the Alumni Club... MORE
GAZPROM MAKES INROADS INTO SOUTH AMERICA
On March 17 Gazprom International Business Department head Stanislav Tsygankov signed an agreement on natural gas exploration in Bolivia with Santos Ramirez, president of the Bolivian state-owned petroleum company Yacimientos Petroliferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) in the presence of Bolivian President Evo Morales (Bolivian Information Agency,... MORE
CHANCELLOR MERKEL’S “ALLEINGANG” IN MOSCOW AHEAD OF THE NATO SUMMIT
“Alleingang,” a go-it-alone policy of rapprochement with Moscow and differentiation from Washington, is an oft-discussed temptation and pitfall of German foreign policy. At present the Christian-Democrat chancellor, Angela Merkel, is engaged in an Alleingang to satisfy Russia by stopping Georgian and Ukrainian Membership Action Plans... MORE
IS NATO FACING A RUSSIAN VETO THROUGH FRANCO-GERMAN HANDS?
Several articles appearing in quick succession in the French press suggest a possible understanding with Russia to block Georgian and Ukrainian Membership Action Plans (MAPs) at the upcoming NATO summit. This idea emerges at its clearest in Le Monde of March 12 (straight news-and-analysis article... MORE
RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY REPORTEDLY PICKED CIVIL SOCIETY REPS TO MEET WITH RICE
During their visit to Moscow this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates held meetings with President Vladimir Putin and president-elect Dmitry Medvedev. They also met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov to discuss such... MORE
NATO EXPANSION PUSHES MISSILE DEFENSE OFF RUSSIAN AGENDA
This week U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow, but their arrival was not accompanied by any breakthroughs on U.S.-Russian differences on missile defense, arms control, and Kosovar independence. Still, both sides reported “good progress.” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov... MORE
Omar bin Laden: Osama’s Flower-Child Son or al-Qaeda Disinformation Agent?
In recent months, 26-year-old Omar bin Laden—Osama bin Laden’s eldest son—has made headlines around the world for marrying a 51-year old British grandmother and sounding like a refugee from 1960s-era San Francisco, urging his father to give peace a chance. With his long braided hair,... MORE
The Reaction of Iraqi Kurdistan to the Turkish Incursion
The February 21-29 Turkish incursion into Iraq failed to provoke Iraqi Kurds. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of northern Iraq appears to have limited its reaction to dutifully lodged diplomatic protests while Iraqi President Jalal Talabani—also the leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK)—called... MORE
RUSSIAN ENERGY POLICY REMAINS UNDER PUTIN’S CONTROL
The purpose of a transitional period between a presidential election and the winner’s inauguration is to secure a smooth transfer of authority to the new leader and his team. Nothing of this sort has happened in Russia in the last two weeks. Outgoing President Vladimir... MORE