Latest Articles about Middle East
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
RUMORS ABOUND OVER POSSIBLE CABINET AND KREMLIN APPOINTMENTS
With Dmitry Medvedev set to be inaugurated as Russian president in May and to name his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, to serve as prime minister, speculation over the likely composition of the next presidential administration and the next cabinet has been intensifying. According to Ekho Moskvy... MORE
MEDVEDEV DARES NOT VENTURE INTO INTERNATIONAL ARENA
European leaders have been quick to check the attitude and indeed the authority of the Russian President-Elect Dmitry Medvedev. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the first to call with congratulations on the victory, dubious as it was. German Chancellor Angela Merkel rushed to Moscow last... MORE
FUTURE PRIME MINISTER PUTIN INSISTS ON STILL BEING HEARD ON NATO
During a March 8 press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russia's outgoing President Vladimir Putin expressed his acute annoyance with Western policies over Kosovar independence, NATO expansion, Afghanistan, and Western criticism of internal Russian policies. Merkel sounded a positive note, emphasizing cooperation and... MORE
RUSSIA 2007: FREE EXPRESSION FURTHER RESTRICTED WHILE PUNITIVE PSYCHIATRY RETURNED
The U.S. State Department has released its annual report on human rights practices worldwide, “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2007.” While State’s annual human rights reports of recent years have generally been critical of the Russian government, this latest report is perhaps the... MORE
INVESTORS REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT ON NEW SEVSIB RAILWAY
Russian officials have disclosed plans for yet another ambitious railway scheme, the North Siberian Railway or SevSib, apparently patterned after the Trans-Siberian Railway (TransSib). But the announcement provided yet another reminder that Russia's sizable railway projects in the East often hemorrhage red ink and take... MORE
Sunni Rivalries in al-Anbar Province Threaten Iraq’s Security
Growing rivalries between Sunni factions in Iraq’s al-Anbar province threaten the gains made by local “Awakening Councils” working in cooperation with U.S. forces against al-Qaeda gunmen. Leading tribal shaykhs in the province have demanded the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) leave the province within days. The... MORE
Turkey’s Generals and Government Deny U.S. Interference in Operation Gunes
The Turkish General Staff launched Operation Gunes (Sun) on February 21 against a number of locations in northern Iraq occupied by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Infantry, artillery, and air force units took primary roles in the operation. International reaction to the Turkish incursion... MORE
ANALYSTS AND ORDINARY CITIZENS PREDICT SHIFT OF POWER FROM RUSSIAN PRESIDENT TO PRIME MINISTER
In a poll by the independent Levada Center among 1,600 Russians conducted over February 22-25, 61% of the respondents said they agreed with the view that despite Dmitry Medvedev’s victory in the March 2 presidential election (which was a foregone conclusion even a week or... MORE
A Military Analysis of Turkey’s Incursion into Northern Iraq
The recently concluded eight-day Turkish military incursion into northern Iraq marks the beginning of a new phase in Turkey’s nearly 24 year-old struggle against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Despite the Turkish military’s claims to have inflicted high casualties and severe damage to the PKK’s... MORE