Latest Articles about Middle East
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES DOUBT REBELS WILL ACCEPT AMNESTY OFFER
Russian authorities are continuing their attempts to get maximum benefit from the July 10 death of Shamil Basaev, military commander of North Caucasian rebels. On July 15 Federal Security Service Director Nikolai Patrushev put forward an offer of amnesty to Chechnya’s separatist rebels (see Chechnya... MORE
RUSSIA UPS OIL EXPORTS TO CHINA BY RAIL
Russian boosted its oil exports to China by rail this year, but crude shipments are yet to match earlier expectations. In the first six months of 2006, Russian crude shipments to China by rail reached some 100,000 barrels per day (nearly 5 million tons) or... MORE
The New York Plot: The Impact of Bin Laden’s Campaign to Inspire Jihad
The recent disruption of a developing terrorist plot to destroy an underwater tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York City and inundate lower Manhattan offers an opportunity to assess the impact of Osama bin Laden's decade-plus effort to inspire others to undertake operations against the... MORE
AN INFORMAL FAREWELL TO THE DYSFUNCTIONAL COMMONWEALTH
There were plenty of good reasons to organize an informal top-level meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in Moscow last weekend. Old conflicts and new tensions dividing its 12 member-states, from the deadlocked antagonism between Armenia and Azerbaijan to the ongoing spy scandal... MORE
SUMMIT PRESCRIBES CIS LITE; PUTIN BLINKS BEFORE SAAKASHVILI; VORONIN STANDS UP TO PUTIN
Devalued by an unusually low attendance -- only eight out of twelve presidents -- the CIS informal summit in Moscow on July 21-22 marks the official transition of this organization to a “lite” version of its former self. With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s acquiescence, Kazakh... MORE
CIS SUMMIT: GATHERING WILL LIKELY FLOP BUT MOSCOW IS INTENT TO CONTINUE THROWING ITS WEIGHT AROUND
The Kremlin appears determined to prove that Russia is back as a world-class superpower. Immediately after the pomp and fanfare of the St. Petersburg G-8 summit on July 15-17 -- the event that has allegedly seen Russia’s return to the first league of global heavyweights... MORE
KREMLIN MOVES TO STRENGTHEN CONTROL OVER DAGESTAN
On Monday, July 17, Imam Yaraliev, prosecutor-general for Dagestan, announced his resignation. His deputy, Murad Kekhlerov, will take the post until the Russian prosecutor-general appoints a replacement. Yaraliev had been regarded as a highly corrupt official. According to information from the Dagestani prosecutor’s office, Yaraliev... MORE
PUTIN EMBRACES DOUBLE STANDARD IN MID-EAST CRISIS
Although the Russian press regularly rebukes the West for double standards regarding terrorism, such as supporting the insurgents in Chechnya, media outlets have not pointed out that Moscow is taking a similar stance regarding the current Middle East crisis. Western reports clearly indicate that Hezbollah,... MORE
Jihadi Web Forums Revel in Lebanon Confrontation
As fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah, discussion on the jihadi forums focused on the impact of these actions on the mujahideen in the region, and to the longer term Middle East strategy for the global jihad. A concisely written article, entitled "The Dangers of... MORE
BUSH DOWNPLAYS “SOVEREIGN DEMOCRACY” AT PUTIN’S BARBECUE
The two-session summit between U.S. President George W. Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin – dinner on Friday and working meeting on Saturday morning – was perhaps the most important part of the much-anticipated G-8 gathering at the Strelna complex outside St. Petersburg, July 15-17.... MORE