Latest Articles about Middle East
MOSCOW OUTRAGED BY U.S. SANCTIONS AGAINST TWO RUSSIAN COMPANIES
On the evening of Friday, August 4, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a statement that condemned in the strongest possible way the decision of U.S. State Department to introduce sanctions against Rosoboroneksport and Sukhoi for violating the Iran Nonproliferation Act of 2000 (Lenta.ru, August 4).... MORE
RUSSIA MOVES TO DEVELOP AND REPOPULATE THE KURIL ISLANDS
As Russia has failed to secure any significant economic incentives from Tokyo, especially a Japan-bound Pacific oil pipeline route, the Kremlin has moved to develop and repopulate the Kuril Islands, apparently indicating a loss of interest in resolving the long-standing territorial dispute. Russia's government has... MORE
Saudi Arabia’s Shiites and their Effect on the Kingdom’s Stability
A decade has passed since Saudi Hezbollah, known locally as Ansar Khat al-Imam (Followers of the Line of the Imam), bombed the Khobar Towers, a U.S. military housing compound, killing 19 soldiers and injuring 350 [1]. This attack brought dramatic attention to Saudi Arabia's Shiite... MORE
YUKOS BANKRUPTCY: THE BIG PICTURE
A court decision declaring Yukos -- once Russia’s largest oil company -- bankrupt has finally brought to an end the sad story of confrontation between private business and a powerful state. But the ruling also highlighted the unhealthy nature of the country’s raw-materials-based socio-economic system.... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES PUT VIRTUAL ORGANIZATIONS ON TERROR LIST BUT IGNORE HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH
On July 28, the official Russian newspaper Rossiiskaya gazeta published a list of organizations that the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation had designated as “terrorist.” The list was drawn up by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and includes 17 terrorist organizations. The roster has... MORE
RUSSIA’S OIL PIPELINE LEAK SPARKS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS
A leak in one segment of Russia's Druzhba (Friendship) pipeline has not only affected international prices, but the incident has also reignited debates regarding the safety record of the country's aging pipeline system. The leak occurred July 29 on the Russian border with Ukraine and... MORE
RUSSIAN OIL SUPPLIES TO LITHUANIA CUT OFF
Since July 29, Russia’s oil pipeline monopoly Transneft has stopped deliveries to Lithuania’s Mazeikiai refinery, the largest economic entity in that country and sole refinery in the Baltic states. Transneft’s move seems designed to block the consummation of the three-way deal whereby Poland’s PKN Orlen... MORE
Zawahiri: Internationalizing Jihad, Uniting Muslims and Trumping Saudi Clerics
Ayman al-Zawahiri's July 27 statement on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict deftly advanced al-Qaeda's own interests, as well as al-Qaeda's goal of putting the world's multiple ongoing Islamic insurgencies into the context of a single, Shiite-and-Sunni struggle against "the Zionist-Crusader aggression." The struggles in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq... MORE
Hezbollah’s Tactics and Capabilities in Southern Lebanon
With its attack on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Israel is fighting on terrain that has been prepared by the Shiite movement for six years since the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000. Israeli Defense Force (IDF) soldiers have described finding a network of concrete bunkers... MORE
MOSCOW QUIETLY RAISES ITS GAME IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Three weeks after the eruption of hostilities in Lebanon, Russia has remained uncharacteristically cautious and reserved. President Vladimir Putin took a very active stance in the debates on the conflict at the July 15-17 G-8 summit in St. Petersburg and claimed credit for “softening” the... MORE