Latest Articles about Middle East

PRESIDENTIAL WHIMS AT ROOT OF RUSSIA-BELARUS OIL DISPUTE

Last month's acute conflict between Moscow and Minsk over natural gas prices has carried into the New Year as an oil-pricing dispute. This week the transport of oil through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline system from Russia to Europe has been disrupted (see EDM, January 8,... MORE

U.S. SANCTIONS ROSOBORONEKSPORT OVER DEALS WITH IRAN

Russia is still mostly closed for business because of the extended Christmas holidays, but more bad news on its international standing is hardly a welcome gift. On January 6 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs lashed out regarding new sanctions imposed by the United States against... MORE

RUSSIA REGRETS SADDAM HUSSEIN’S DEATH

Deposing a dictator, let alone hanging him in public, has never been popular in Russia. Saddam Hussein’s death was no exception. Public commentary in Russia over Saddam’s death by hanging on December 30, 2006, was almost unanimously negative, although the reasons offered by those who... MORE

MOSCOW LAUNCHES MAJOR ANTI-CORRUPTION DRIVE

Moscow is slowly realizing that rampant corruption is sapping the country’s economic vitality and tarnishing its image among potential Western investors. This week United Russia’s Mikhail Grishankov, chair of the Duma’s anti-corruption commission, declared, “We are confident that in 2007 we will continue a full-scale... MORE

RUSSIAN ARMS TRADER HAS TIES FROM AFRICA TO KREMLIN

Last month Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree ordering all weapons exports to be handed over to the state arms trader Rosoboroneksport beginning March 1. The MiG corporation, the Tula-based Instrument Manufacturing Design Bureau (KBP), and other independent exporters that together shipped $624 million... MORE

SHELL FORCED TO CAPITULATE TO PUTIN

A two-part deal -- one publicized on December 21 and thereafter, the other confidential but leaked by Moscow on December 28 -- has sealed Gazprom’s seizure of the majority stake in the Royal Dutch Shell-led oil and gas project Sakhalin-2. Shell, hitherto the project operator,... MORE

Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s Growing Appeal in the Arab World

Hizb-ut-Tahrir (or Hizb al-Tahrir) is an ostensibly non-violent Islamic political movement dedicated to the recreation of a global caliphate. Although founded in Jordanian-ruled Jerusalem in 1953, it has traditionally been strongest in Europe and Central Asia. Today, however, it is becoming increasingly popular in the... MORE

The Ideological Voices of the Jihadi Movement

It is news to few observers that thousands, even millions, of young Muslims are influenced—to some extent—by jihadi literature circulating on various Islamist websites and discussion forums. The mujahideen's use of the internet for communication, indoctrination, recruitment and public relations has been well demonstrated. Through... MORE