Latest Articles about Middle East
Turkey Unwilling to Commit to Expanded Military Mission in Afghanistan
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Turkey was the first Muslim country to join the United States in the global war on terrorism. As a NATO ally, Turkey first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2002 to join the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which came under... MORE
RUSSIA’S GAZPROMNEFT PLANS CRUDE OUTPUT HIKE
Russia's state-run oil firm, GazpromNeft, has disclosed ambitious plans to hike its oil production level, which would require taking over new assets. In its drive toward becoming the country's leading oil firm, GazpromNeft appears to be relying on its parent company Gazprom, currently chaired by... MORE
Unwelcome Guests: The Turkish Military Bases in Northern Iraq
Following the Turkish military’s raid on northern Iraq in late February, the little-known and poorly understood presence of Turkish military bases in Kurdish Iraq has become a major issue in relations between the two countries. On February 26, the parliament of the Kurdistan region of... MORE
RUSSIA’S THREATS TO UKRAINE, GEORGIA ARE CHALLENGES TO U.S., NATO
Representatives of the Russian government and the Kremlin are multiplying their threats to Ukraine (as well as to Georgia) ahead of next week’s NATO summit, where Membership Action Plans (MAPs) for the two countries will be considered. Moscow realizes more clearly than some NATO governments... MORE
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