Latest Articles about Middle East
RUSSIA SEEKS ENTREE INTO EUROPE’S AVIATION MARKET
Recently Vneshtorgbank, Moscow’s state owned foreign trade bank, spent about a billion dollars to buy 5.02% of the shares of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Corporation (EADS). The revelation of this purchase is a clear sign, corroborated by press reports, that Moscow seeks a... MORE
LIGHT SENTENCES FOR HIGH-PROFILE RUSSIAN HAZING CASE
A high-profile military hazing trial in Chelyabinsk ended yesterday, September 26. Private Andrei Sychyov had his legs amputated last January after being abused in the barracks and is still hospitalized today. Three conscript soldiers were on trial in Chelyabinsk, though only Junior Sergeant Alexander Sivyakov... MORE
GSPC Joins al-Qaeda and France Becomes Top Enemy
Al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent September 11 threat to France, coupled with al-Qaeda's official integration with the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), is significant for two principal reasons. First, from al-Qaeda's perspective, it is a formal alliance with an "out-of-area" Islamist group... MORE
Al-Qaeda Oil Attack Thwarted in Yemen
On September 15, Yemen's Interior Ministry announced that during a shootout it had blown up four cars laden with explosives, killing the four suicide bombers in the process before they could reach their intended targets. The foiled attack came within days of al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman... MORE
PUTIN DOWNPLAYS ENERGY DIALOGUE IN PARIS
Russian President Vladimir Putin resumed his European engagements last week, traveling to Budapest and Paris; he also plans a sentimental trip to Dresden in mid-October. The atmosphere at the meetings, however, was not exactly cordial, with French President Jacques Chirac assuming a rather reserved tone... MORE
RUSSIAN PUNDITS WARY OF ANKARA’S REVIVED GEOPOLITICAL AMBITIONS IN EURASIA
The suggestion to form a Turkish commonwealth among Turkic-speaking countries voiced at the recent gathering of leaders of Turkic states in Turkey’s seaside resort city of Antalya appears to reflect Ankara’s desire to strengthen its economic and political positions in Eurasia. Moscow should not treat... MORE
Mount Qandil: A Safe Haven for Kurdish Militants – Part 2
The following information and assessments are based upon the author's first-hand observations from his March 2006 visit to Kurdish camps on Mount Qandil. Part 1 of this article can be found in Issue 17 of Terrorism Monitor. Since coming to Mount Qandil, the PKK has... MORE
Mount Qandil: A Safe Haven for Kurdish Militants – Part 1
The following information and assessments are based upon the author's first-hand observations from his March 2006 visit to Kurdish camps on Mount Qandil. In recent months, Turkey has renewed its threats to enter Iraqi Kurdistan to attack the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Any Turkish attack... MORE
Al-Suri’s Adaptation of Fourth Generation Warfare Doctrine
In a highly influential and sizeable treatise posted in January 2005 and titled "The Global Islamic Resistance Call," jihadi ideologue Abu Musab al-Suri (aka Mustafa Setmariam Nasar) culminated a life of activity by providing his strategic template for the Global Salafi-Jihad [1]. This work, rare... MORE
PUTIN-GYURCSANY MEETING STEERS HUNGARY’S GOVERNMENT ON THE “THIRD PATH”
Hungary’s crisis-plagued government under Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany seems to have embarked on a “third-path” course between the institutional West, where Hungary belongs, and Russia toward which Gyurcsany and his closest associates seem increasingly to gravitate. The concept of a “Third Path” (Harmadik Ut) between... MORE