Latest Articles about Middle East
DEAD BODIES HIDING TRUTH ABOUT RUSSIAN FAILURE IN NALCHIK
During his visit to the Netherlands this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about the massive October 13 rebels attack on Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. Dutch journalists wondered why the attack happened in what had been considered the most peaceful republic of the... MORE
NEW NATIONAL HOLIDAY: STRENGTHENING PUTIN’S STATIST SYNTHESIS
Today, November 4, Russia celebrates a new national holiday -- People's Unity Day. The holiday marks the end of the Polish occupation of Moscow in 1612 when the country's capital was liberated from the foreign intruders by the "joint efforts of the entire Russian society."... MORE
Re-Examining Jemaah Islamiyah in the Wake of the Zawahiri Letter
On October 11, 2005, the website of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence posted a letter believed to be from al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri to Iraqi insurgent leader and commander of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Dated July 9, 2005, this letter provided not... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES FEAR ISLAMIC INSURGENCY IN VOLGA REGION
During the 2000 presidential campaign, Acting President Vladimir Putin explained to journalists why he had launched a ruthless military campaign in Chechnya. Referring to the Chechen rebels who had invaded the neighboring republic of Dagestan in summer 1999, Putin said they had entered Dagestan not... MORE
THE RUNAWAY TRAWLER AND RUSSIA’S WOUNDED PRIDE
Throughout last week, the Russian public was transfixed by the flight of the trawler Elektron, which defied orders from the Norwegian Coast Guard and fled to Murmansk. This TV "reality show" appeared to have a happy ending, since the crew received a warm welcome and... MORE
RUSSIA PRESSING FOR EXCLUSIONARY NAVAL GROUPING IN CASPIAN SEA
On October 24, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov briefed President Vladimir Putin on Lavrov's just-completed visit to Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. In the briefing's televised part, Lavrov reported on his effort to advance Moscow's proposal for a joint naval force of the Caspian Sea... MORE
GAZPROM’S ACQUISITION OF SIBNEFT SEEN AS DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD
On October 17, Gazprom's Board of Directors approved the acquisition of a controlling share in Sibneft, Russia's fifth-largest oil producer. The deal is a major victory for the Kremlin, which in recent years has built an ever-expanding state-controlled energy giant. With shipments of some 550... MORE
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RUSSIA-BELARUS UNION
On October 21, a draft version of the Constitutional Act of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was drawn up, based on two houses: a House of Representatives (103 members, including 28 from Belarus); and a House of the Union (36 senators and 36... MORE
Is al-Zawahiri’s Letter to al-Zarqawi a Fake?
On October 6, U.S. intelligence in Iraq revealed the existence of a 13-page letter, dated July 9, 2005, from al-Qaeda's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri and addressed to al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The message contained a number of interesting features, including a request... MORE
The Salafization of the Iraq Conflict
An interesting note posted on a jihadi web forum complements a recent analysis by U.S. Maj. Gen. Richard Zahner on the course of the insurgency in Iraq. In an interview published by The Washington Post on September 28, leading military intelligence officer Gen. Zahner neatly... MORE