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Latest Articles about Middle East
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MEDVEDEV, MILITARY PROMOTE DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS FOR RUSSIA
On Saturday, January 19, the first deputy defense minister and chief of the General Staff, four-star general Yuri Baluyevsky, announced that Russia must build an armed force that will be ready to meet the challenges of the modern world. Baluyevsky sent a stern-sounding warning to... MORE
Al-Qaeda Completes its Organizational Mission in Iraq
This is the second of two articles assessing the content of Osama bin Laden’s December 29 statement. Since 2003, al-Qaeda has had dual but independently achievable goals in Iraq—the two can be termed “Islamist” and “organizational”—and each is assessed in bin Laden’s December 29, 2007... MORE
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PUTIN’S SUCCESSOR LAYS OUT AMBITIOUS PLANS, BUT CAN HE DELIVER?
On January 22 Dmitry Medvedev laid out what are apparently the main planks of his presidential election campaign platform in an address to the Civic Forum, a gathering of representatives from some Russian non-governmental organizations and other groups sponsored by the Public Chamber, a Kremlin-appointed... MORE
TWO SETBACKS FOR THE KREMLIN AT THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
On January 21 the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) protected its reputation by eschewing the election of Mikhail Margelov as PACE president. Apparently, many members realized that PACE could have discredited itself irreparably by electing a Kremlin-affiliated figure as president of Europe’s leading democracy-promoting... MORE
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U.S. Applies Terrorist Designation to Kurdistan Freedom Falcons
Following a full month of Turkish military strikes on bases of the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, the movement appears to have signaled a switch to urban warfare with the January 3 Diyarbakır bombing in southeastern Turkey that killed seven (Anatolia, January... MORE
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PUTIN AND MEDVEDEV OPEN THE BULGARIAN GATE FOR GAZPROM
Last week’s official visit to Bulgaria granted Russian President Vladimir Putin an opportunity to show that his power-transfer scheme worked impeccably, as the person standing next to him was Dmitry Medvedev, who had no business in Sofia in his official capacity as first deputy prime... MORE
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VAN DER LINDEN’S FAREWELL DEAL WITH PUTIN
On January 17 Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) President Rene van der Linden paid a farewell visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin. With van der Linden’s term as PACE president expiring today (January 21), Putin invited him as a token... MORE
WILL PUTIN AND THE SILOVIKI MAKE COMMON CAUSE TO LIMIT MEDVEDEV?
With the Central Election Commission set to register First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as a presidential candidate, observers have again been speculating about the future relationship between Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin’s handpicked successor and Russia’s presumed next president, and Putin himself, who has agreed... MORE
SERDYUKOV’S AUTHORITY GROWS AT MINISTRY OF DEFENSE
Many observers scoffed when Vladimir Putin appointed Anatoly Serdyukov to head the Ministry of Defense in February 2007, because Serdyukov had no experience in national security. Instead, he was known for heading the Federal Tax Service and monitoring financial flows. But apparently the main reason... MORE
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MOSCOW RESUMES MAY PARADES TO DEMONSTRATE MILITARY STRENGTH
Full-scale, Soviet-style military parades – with displays of tanks and other military hardware – will return to Red Square beginning May 9. The decision to resume this public display of military might was reportedly taken at a January 12 meeting of top Russian military leaders.... MORE