Latest Articles about Middle East
PUTIN SAILS THROUGH HIS LAST G-8 SUMMIT
As is usually the case, the weeks preceding the G-8 summit saw a dramatic escalation in tensions between Russia and other members of this elite club, in particular the United States. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosted this year’s summit, had remained noncommittal since the... MORE
RUSSIA CONSIDERS INCREASING COAL USE TO FACILITATE GAS EXPORTS
A series of deadly incidents has dealt Russia's coal industry a serious blow, as the sector's safety standards apparently remain low. Nonetheless, the Russian government is still considering long-range plans to increase the use of coal in power generation in order to reduce natural gas... MORE
WAYS TO TRANSFORM RUSSIA’S “PEACEKEEPING” OPERATION IN MOLDOVA
The United States, NATO, and European Union are prepared to negotiate with Russia at an international conference next week about transforming Russia’s “peacekeeping” operation in Moldova into a genuinely multilateral operation with Russian participation. They are offering to Russia the “carrot” of ratifying the 1999-adapted... MORE
TNK-BP KEEPS KOVYKTA LICENSE, FOR NOW
Throughout this year, Russian regulators have targeted the Kovykta gas development project, officially for failing to fulfill production quotas. However, the regulatory pressure was understood to be aimed at putting the giant Kovykta gas field, which is estimated to hold up to 3 trillion cubic... MORE
The Hidden Hand of Iran in the Resurgence of Ansar al-Islam
Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic militant group based in the Kurdish mountains that briefly housed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, was at the height of its power in 2002-2003. They controlled the areas of Bayarah and Tawilah along the Iranian border and operated with impunity. Yet, during the... MORE
PLAYING CATCH-UP WITH RUSSIA ON CASPIAN ENERGY TRANSIT
U.S. government officials are fanning out to the Caspian region after the signing of Russia’s monopolistic agreements on energy transit with three Central Asian countries and Austria in May (see EDM, May 14, 16, 17, 29, 31). Those agreements, mostly of intent, would kill the... MORE
KREMLIN, ABKHAZ, SOUTH OSSETIAN LEADERS DELIBERATELY AMBIVALENT ABOUT KOSOVO
Moscow is redoubling its rhetorical support for Serbia over Kosovo, ostensibly on the basis of the territorial-integrity principle, while backing its Abkhaz and South Ossetian protégés on the basis of the self-determination principle (as Moscow construes it). Russian President Vladimir Putin leads the charge on... MORE
RUSSIA STILL SEES WEST AS PRIMARY ENEMY
During an extended interview with Western and Russian journalists before this week’s G-8 summit in Germany, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that if U.S. missile defense elements are deployed in Europe, "We will be forced to take adequate steps in response." Putin elaborated: "New targets... MORE
RUSSIAN OIL PIPELINE SHUTOFF TO LITHUANIA: WIDER RAMIFICATIONS
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