Latest Articles about Middle East
CSTO SUMMIT: MILITARY BLOC NOT YET CEMENTED
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Alexander Lukashenka of Belarus, Robert Kocharian of Armenia, Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan, Imomali Rahmonov of Tajikistan, and Islam Karimov of Uzbekistan met on June 23 in Minsk for a dual summit of the Collective Security Treaty... MORE
Syria’s Abu al-Qaqa: Authentic Jihadist or Imposter?
Much has been written about the Aleppo-based Syrian preacher Abu al-Qaqa since Syrian security apprehended an armed group on June 2 that was attempting to carry out a terrorist attack at early dawn on the Ummayad Square in the heart of Damascus (Terrorism Focus, June... MORE
MOSCOW SURPRISINGLY COMPLACENT OVER NORTH KOREAN MISSILE THREATS
The growing furor over North Korea's preparations for a missile test has evoked only a tepid response in Moscow. Beijing only weighed in publicly on June 21, with a typically restrained statement of its being very concerned about a possible test (Xinhua, Chinadaily.com, June 22).... MORE
SADULAEV DEATH RESULT OF GOOD LUCK, NOT GOOD PLANNING
Russian authorities have scored a great victory over the Chechen rebels by killing their top leader, Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev. On June 17, Nikolai Patrushev, the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB), announced that Sadulaev had been killed in the Chechen town of Argun (Sadulaev’s birthplace)... MORE
RUSSIAN ECONOMIC PARADOXES AND THE POWER OF “STUPID MONEY”
Macroeconomic dynamics have dominated the political debates in Moscow in mid-June, while the frenzy of speculation about Vladimir Putin's third presidential term or identifying a possible successor has taken a short respite. The government reviewed a colossal four-volume report on the main directions of its... MORE
A Profile of al-Qaeda’s New Leader in Iraq: Abu Ayyub al-Masri
It did not take al-Qaeda in Iraq long to name the successor to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, contrary to speculation that the killing of al-Zarqawi would disrupt al-Qaeda's operations. In a defiant spirit, al-Qaeda announced the name of the man it appointed to the helm of... MORE
RUSSIA AND CHINA EYE BOOMING BILATERAL TRADE AND INVESTMENT TIES
On the sidelines of the high-profile bilateral summit meetings at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) sessions, Russian and Chinese officials reiterated earlier pledges to develop trade and investment cooperation. In the first three months... MORE
THREE SECESSIONIST LEADERSHIPS ANNOUNCE JOINT AGENDA
The de facto leaders of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria met in Sukhumi on June 12-14. The guest delegations reached Sukhumi via Russia, thus nullifying any deniability of Russia's sponsorship of this exercise. The three leaderships had agreed in December 2005 in Moscow to hold... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES LOSE CONTROL OVER INGUSHETIA
On the morning of June 9, Lieutenant Colonel Musa Nalgiev, commander of the special-task police squad (OMON) in the republic of Ingushetia, left his home in Karabulak to go to a planning meeting at the Ministry of Interior Affairs. Unlike other days, this time his... MORE
IRAN’S NUCLEAR DEMANDS: TOWARD A NEW ERA OF CONTAINMENT?
On May 31, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a statement that the United States would "join the EU-3 talks" with Tehran "should Iran verifiably suspend all of its enrichment-related activities." The announcement came as a surprise, since the U.S. administration had previously refused... MORE