Latest Articles about Middle East
MOSCOW INTRODUCES NEW ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR OIL DEVELOPMENT IN EASTERN SIBERIA
As Transneft, Russia's crude oil pipeline monopoly, rushes to build the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline, Moscow has introduced additional economic incentives for oil companies to boost crude output and develop new deposits in eastern Siberia. Now Russia pumps a mere one million tons of crude... 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
Harith al-Dari: Iraq’s Most Wanted Sunni Leader
According to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Harith al-Dari has "nothing to do but incite sectarian and ethnic sedition." Al-Dari, the leader of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), has been an outspoken critic of the Shiite-led Iraqi government and is rumored to be affiliated with... MORE
TWELVE MONTHS: THE SHORT LIFE OF COMFORTABLE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT RUSSIA’S ENERGY POLICY IN 2006
The Kremlin’s confiscatory assault on Royal Dutch Shell and threats to other Western energy majors in Russia on Black Tuesday, December 12 (see EDM, December 13) is the latest in a series of moves disproving Western wishful thinking about Russia’s energy policy. That wishful thinking... MORE