Latest Articles about Middle East
SOURCING THE NABUCCO PIPELINE TO PREVAIL AGAINST SOUTH STREAM
Gas reserves at Azerbaijan’s Shah-Deniz field would amply suffice for the Nabucco pipeline’s first commercial phase, from 2013 onward. However, investors would expect second-phase supplies to be reliably identified by the time construction work starts on the pipeline’s first phase. The start of construction is... MORE
Yemen’s Role in al-Qaeda’s Strategy
Osama bin Laden has always had a very soft spot in his heart for Yemen, saying that it is “one of the best Arab and Muslim countries in terms of its adherence to tradition and the faith … [its] topography is mountainous, and its people... MORE
DID GLONASS FAILURE SINK IVANOV’S CHANCE AT THE PRESIDENCY?
The Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) has long been a priority in the development of Russian space technologies. Last March, in a major speech on the future of space development, Russian President Vladimir Putin singled out global positioning as a field in which Russia... MORE
AMID VOWS TO LIMIT STATE INTERFERENCE, THE STATE’S STAKE IN BUSINESS GROWS
The members of President Vladimir Putin’s administration who are also the heads of state corporations are running again for re-election to the boards of those companies, which will have the effect of maintaining state control – and, perhaps more importantly, control by members of Putin’s... MORE
Turkish Crackdown on Homegrown al-Qaeda Cells in Gaziantep
A major crackdown against alleged al-Qaeda militants in southern Turkey that left four militants and one policeman dead on January 24 has proven two things: homegrown Islamic militants still pose a serious threat in this secular but Muslim nation, and the police—aware of the danger—are... MORE
AUSTRIA’S OMV UTILIZING AND SABOTAGING THE EU AT THE SAME TIME
Austria’s state-dominated OMV energy company is pursuing a two-track policy in relation to the European Union. On one track, OMV seeks the support of EU institutions and legal mechanisms to force a takeover of Hungary’s private-owned MOL energy company, which has consistently bested OMV in... MORE
MOSCOW SIGNS SERIES OF AGREEMENTS WITHIN EURASIAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY FRAMEWORK
On January 25, the prime ministers of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed nine trade agreements. These addressed export customs duties, unified customs and tariff regulations, unified rules to determine the countries of origin of goods, unified measures of non-tariff regulation, anti-dumping and protective measures, determination... MORE
ALEKSANYAN’S PLIGHT: A CASE OF THE “LEGAL NIHILISM” MEDVEDEV HAS VOWED TO FIGHT?
On February 1 Moscow’s Simonovsky District Court ordered former Yukos executive Vasily Aleksanyan, who claims to have been denied treatment for AIDS while in prison, to remain jailed while being tried on charges of embezzlement and money laundering. Aleksanyan is incarcerated in Matrosskaya Tishina, the... MORE
PRESIDENTIAL TRANSPLANTATION IN RUSSIA ENTERS FINAL PHASE
In less than a month 109 million Russian voters are going to elect a new president. But while the Russian political class has been anxiously anticipating the March 2 vote for the last four years, there are strikingly few overt signs of the impending event.... MORE
Jihadist Groups Still Active During Political Crisis in Lebanon
Recent terrorist attacks targeting the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and U.S. embassy personnel in Beirut come as security measures are heightened in response to a series of assassinations and a rapidly deteriorating political crisis in the country. While UNIFIL forces have been... MORE