Latest Articles about Middle East
GAS SUPPLIERS’ CARTEL: NOT AN “OPEC,” BUT CARTEL ALL THE SAME
With common trepidation substituting for a common policy, the West is awaiting the Gas-Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) meeting on April 9 in Doha, Qatar. It will be the group’s sixth meeting in almost as many years, but it is the first meeting that might result... MORE
PUTIN’S ORDER TO CREATE MOUNTAIN TROOPS RESULTS IN COMPETING, HAPHAZARD FORCES
In August 2004 Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the creation of two special army mountain brigades in the Northern Caucasus. The Defense Ministry initially promised that the brigades would be operational in 2005, but the deadline has shifted several times. As the Defense Ministry struggled... MORE
MOSCOW ASSAILS ESTONIA ON DEPORTATIONS ANNIVERSARY DATE
On March 25 Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania commemorated the mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out on that date in 1949 by Soviet Russian authorities. Some 95,000 people were deported that day from the Baltic states, including more than 20,000 from Estonia alone, a... MORE
A BAD WEEK LEAVES PUTIN WITH ANOTHER 50 TO GO
Russia saw a truly macabre chain of disasters last week. On Saturday, March 17, a Tu-134 missed the runway and crash-landed in Samara, killing six passengers but miraculously not bursting into flames. On Monday, March 19, a gas explosion at the Kuzbass coal mine claimed... MORE
POST-SOVIET SECESSIONIST LEADERS WORRIED BY RUSSIA’S KOSOVO POLICY
Russia’s seemingly staunch defense of Serbia’s “territorial integrity” and threat to veto any form of recognition of Kosovo’s independence is alarming the post-Soviet secessionist leaderships. These had counted on quick international recognition of Kosovo -- whether against Russia’s will or as part of a Western... MORE
RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL PLANS TO DRAFT MILITARY DOCTRINE
Last September the Moscow daily Gazeta printed extracts of a purported new Russian military doctrine, allegedly prepared in secret by a group of experts in the Defense Ministry and leaked by an undisclosed official source. The main feature of the new doctrine, as published by... MORE
KREMLIN TAKES MEASURES TO REGULATE THE INTERNET
On March 12 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to combine two state bodies that control and license media sources in the country. The Federal Service for Telecom Supervision and the Federal Mass Media and Cultural Oversight Service have been merged to create a... MORE
IRAN-ARMENIA GAS PIPELINE: FAR MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
On March 19 Presidents Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran and Robert Kocharian of Armenia inaugurated the operations of the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline (Armenpress, IRNA, March 19, 20). Although the project’s scope is modest in terms of volume and market potential, its commissioning reflects two incipient trends... MORE
Khalid Sheikh Muhammad: Waging Jihad from Prison
Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri have long made clear to their lieutenants that the road to paradise can be found in the enemies' prisons as well as on the battlefield. From prison, they argue, a captured al-Qaeda leader can mislead his interrogators, provide accurate... MORE
GIMF Releases New Doctrinal Lessons for Mujahideen
The latest in a year-long series on proper beliefs and doctrine of the mujahid was released on March 14 by the Global Islamic Media Front. The series, entitled "Lessons in Doctrine (Prepared for the Mujahideen)" is a program prepared specifically for the mujahideen of Iraq... MORE