Latest Articles about Middle East

RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICES KILL DAGESTANI REBEL LEADER

Early on the morning of September 17, specialized detachments from the Russian police and the Federal Security Service (FSB) surrounded a small house in the village of Novy Sulak, located in the Kyzyl-Yurt district of Dagestan. Two armed rebels were inside the house. The troops... MORE

GENERAL DECLARES RUSSIAN NUKES SECURE

This month the secretive, nuclear 12th Main Directorate of the Defense Ministry celebrated its 60th birthday. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin created the directorate on September 6, 1947, to supervise nuclear tests. Today Russian nukes are produced by the Rosatom Federal Nuclear Energy Agency and then... MORE

STRATEGIC ISSUES FACING THE NABUCCO PROJECT

The Nabucco gas pipeline project is back on track (see EDM, September 19), preparing for an actual start. However, this project has a history of being derailed before even starting. In order to avoid any more derailments, this project needs to resolve a number of... MORE

ZUBKOV: THE TAX MAN COMETH?

Just one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise dismissal of the government, experts and commentators in Moscow still remain in the dark about the real meaning of this development. It took only a few hours for the Kremlin to announce the name of the... MORE

Iran Moves Against PJAK in Northern Iraq

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's most recent campaign of shelling Kurdish villages in northern Iraq, which allegedly targeted members of the outlawed Kurdish opposition group the Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), eventually culminated with Iranian troops entering Iraqi Kurdish territory on August 23.... MORE

SHELL OFFERS A BOUNTY IN GERMANY TO ROSNEFT

According to Russian and German media reports, Royal Dutch Shell offers its stake in Germany’s largest oil-industry complex, MIRO, to Russia’s Rosneft, in return for Shell “access” to a field development project in western Siberia. If consummated, the proposed deal would mark the Russian state’s... MORE

The Surge, the Shiites and Nation Building in Iraq

For some time, analysts have been suggesting that the Bush administration's "surge" strategy may have achieved a measure of success in certain parts of Iraq. Many highlight the tendency on the part of local tribes in the Sunni-dominated areas to stand up against al-Qaeda, in... MORE

PUTIN APPOINTS NEW PRIME MINISTER: HAS SUCCESSION RACE BEGUN?

Yesterday, September 12, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov resigned. His departure was hardly a surprise. Rumors of his impending resignation had been circulating all summer. However, most observers had anticipated that First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov -- an old friend of President Vladimir Putin... MORE