Latest Articles about Middle East
RUSSIAN SPECIAL SERVICES THRIVE IN QUASI-COLD WAR SETTING
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pivotal role in running the country is beyond doubt for the vast majority of Russians, but the institution they see as the next in importance, according to a recent Levada Center poll, is not the government or the church – but... MORE
SCO TO HOST “PEACE MISSION 2007” ANTI-TERRORIST DRILL IN AUGUST
Military analysts will be closely watching next month’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization anti-terrorist exercise, "Peace Mission 2007.” The drill will be the SCO’s largest joint exercise in its six-year history. Contingents from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will take part, along with their country’s... MORE
The CHP’s Role in Pushing Turkey toward a Cross-Border Operation
The attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that have resumed since the summer of 2004 have left behind an unprecedented number of casualties. In the face of the deteriorating situation in its struggle against the PKK, the Turkish military has, on a number of... MORE
SOVIET-STYLE VEIL OF SECRECY HIDES RUSSIAN MISSILE FAILURES
Last month the Russian Navy announced a successful launch of the new Bulava (SS-NX-30) sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile. Igor Digalo, chief of the navy press service, declared, “The test was successful, the missile performed according to plan on all stages of flight, the warheads hit... MORE
MOSCOW ESCALATES DIPLOMATIC ROW WITH LONDON
Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the current deterioration of Russian-U.K. relations as a “mini-crisis” that would be overcome in the “interests of common sense.” In fact, however, this diplomatic row is shaping up like no other, and Putin’s definition of “common sense” might prove... MORE
Turkey’s Dark War: Counter-Terrorism Strategies for the 21st Century
Turkey has experienced a long and painful history of terrorism. During nearly two decades of terrorist attacks and brutal fighting with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), some 35,000 lives were lost. At present, secular Turkey's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government faces a... MORE
TRANSNEFT SQUEEZING OIL MAJORS IN THE CASPIAN PIPELINE CONSORTIUM
On July 19 Transneft president Semyon Vainshtok told the press that Russian demands “are becoming more severe” toward Western companies in the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). The added severity includes a concoction of tax claims retroactively. The U.S. companies Chevron and ExxonMobil are among the... MORE
SPY ROW CHILLS U.K.-RUSSIA RELATIONS: FOR HOW LONG?
As the diplomatic crisis between Moscow and London deepened over the extradition request that Andrei Lugovoi stand trial for the murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko, Russian politicians and media have reacted angrily to Britain’s decision to expel four Russian “diplomats.” British Foreign Secretary David... MORE
RUSSIA SHOWS MUTED PLEASURE OVER PROGRESS TO DENUCLEARIZE NORTH KOREA
The six-party talks over North Korea’s denuclearization resumed Wednesday, July 18, amid real grounds for cautious optimism. The agreement reached in February 2007 has held despite some delays in implementation, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that the DPRK has shut down... MORE
TURKEY OFFERS ROUTE TO EUROPE FOR IRANIAN AND TURKMEN GAS
On July 13 in Ankara, Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler and Iranian Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on gas deliveries from Turkmenistan and Iran to Turkey and via Turkey to Europe. A deal along these lines could,... MORE