Latest Articles about Middle East

RUSSIAN OIL PIPELINE SHUTOFF TO LITHUANIA: WIDER RAMIFICATIONS

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Moscow’s closure of the oil pipeline to Lithuania in July 2006 “looked, sounded, and felt” (see EDM, August 3, 18, 2006) like political and economic retaliation against the privatization of Lithuania’s Mazeikiai refinery by Poland’s PKN Orlen, which had prevented a Russian takeover The Russian... MORE

Al-Qaeda’s American Recruit Releases Something Entirely New

As the 19th anniversary of al-Qaeda's founding nears later in 2007, Western analysts have accumulated an enormous body of primary-source material upon which to base judgments, assessments and predictions. While it is a truism to say that al-Qaeda is a "learning organization"—in the sense that... MORE

ANTI-AMERICANISM IN PUTIN’S EUROPEAN MANEUVERING

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has pursued a rather unconventional strategy preparing for the G-8 summit to be held in Heiligendamm, Germany, later this week. He held a series of meetings with the leaders of smaller European states that prefer to stay clear of the quarrels... MORE

U.S., EU ENERGY POLICIES IN EURASIA COLLAPSE

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Insofar as they existed since 2001 (on the part of the United States) or since 2006 (on the part of a come-lately EU), Western energy policies in Eurasia collapsed in May 2007. During this month, Russia seems to have conclusively defeated all Western-backed projects to... MORE

Al-Qaeda’s Media Doctrine: Evolution from Cheerleader to Opinion-Shaper

Al-Qaeda has always regarded media work as a key weapon in its arsenal, although the group has no claim to originating the use of the media as a weapon for the mujahideen. The Afghan Islamist insurgent organizations—especially Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's Hezb-e-Islami and Ahmad Shah Masoud Jamiat-e-Islami—ran... MORE

Saudi Authorities Crack Down on Forgery Networks

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In recent weeks, there has been a vigorous publicized crackdown on document forgery and identification counterfeiting in Saudi Arabia. Such criminal offenses in the kingdom have largely been committed by people working illegally or avoiding deportation. On a number of occasions, however, al-Qaeda militants have... MORE

Outbreak of Fighting in Lebanon Portends Violence to Come

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The fighting which broke out recently between Islamist militants and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Barid had been widely predicted. This is not the first fighting to take place between militants from the Palestinian camps and the LAF,... MORE