Latest Articles about Middle East
RUSSIA REINFORCES RESTRICTIONS ON OSCE/ODIHR AHEAD OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
Vladimir Putin’s handpicked successor, Dmitry Medvedev, is set to become president of Russia without a properly monitored election. Although the March 2 election’s landslide denouement cannot be doubted, Russia is set to demonstrate conclusively that it can force the OSCE out of the election-observation business.... MORE
ROGOZIN TAKES UP NEW PORTFOLIO IN BRUSSELS
This week the outspoken anti-Western nationalist politician Dmitry Rogozin, 44, arrived in Brussels as Russia’s permanent representative to NATO. Rogozin replaces former Border Guard chief General Konstantin Totsky (see EDM, October 31, 2007). In December 2003, Rogozin was elected to the State Duma as leader... MORE
WILL RUSSIA’S NEXT ANTI-CORRUPTION CAMPAIGN SUCCEED WHERE OTHERS FAILED?
In his January 22 speech to the Civic Forum, a gathering of representatives from Russian non-governmental organizations and other groups sponsored by the Kremlin-appointed Public Chamber, President Vladimir Putin’s likely successor declared that the fight against corruption must become a “national program.” First Deputy Prime... MORE
OMV JOINS WITH GAZPROM TO UNDERCUT NABUCCO
On January 25 Austria’s state-dominated OMV energy company and Russia’s Gazprom signed an agreement to turn the Baumgarten gas transmission center near Vienna into a joint venture. Owned 100% by OMV until now, and ranked as the second- or third-largest gas transmission center in continental... MORE
NO RECKONING WITH REALITIES IN RUSSIAN ECONOMIC POLICY
The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos last week was an unusually somber affair. Anti-globalization protesters were conspicuous by their absence, but the schmoozing among the cosmopolitan business elite was overcast by the heavy turbulence on global stock markets caused by the... MORE
RUSSIA CAPTURES SERBIA’S ENERGY SECTOR
On January 25 in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin and Serbian leaders witnessed the signing of agreements to hand over Serbia’s entire gas and oil sectors to Russia’s Gazprom at one stroke. Serbia’s February 3 presidential election runoff and Russia’s support to Serbia against the West... MORE
SEMYON MOGILEVICH’S ARREST – A BLOW TO MEDVEDEV, OR A FAVOR?
Last week’s arrest in Moscow of Semyon Mogilevich was a surprise not because he was so elusive, but because he had apparently been living unmolested in the Russian capital for some time (even, reportedly, maintaining an office in the Ukraina Hotel). The Ukrainian-born reputed organized... MORE
Sufi Insurgent Groups in Iraq
The mystical approach to Islam known as Sufism has deep roots in Iraqi society. Adherents to Sufism normally stress prayer, meditation and the recitation of the various names of God as part of their effort to create a mystical communion between themselves and Allah. Yet... MORE
Jailing Jihadis: Saudi Arabia’s Special Terrorist Prisons
Saudi Arabia is nearing completion of new purpose-built prison facilities for its program of rehabilitation and counseling for Islamist militants. Under this program five new specialized prisons have been built in Riyadh, Qassim, Abha, Dammam, and Jiddah over the span of approximately nine months. These... MORE
Back with a Vengeance: Turkish Hezbollah
In a recent report submitted to the country’s National Security Council (NSC), Turkish police warned that the most powerful militant Islamist group in recent Turkish history has now recovered from the killing of its founder and the arrest of a substantial proportion of its armed... MORE