Latest Articles about Middle East

BAM RAILWAY TO BECOME EXPORT ROUTE?

The Baikal-Amur Railway line (BAM) was originally designed to become a strategic alternative to the Trans-Siberian Railway. The BAM was also supposed to give the development of Eastern Siberia a much-needed boost. But instead of powering new industries in the region, BAM appears on its... MORE

Al-Qaeda Magazine Defends Jihad and Mujahideen in Iraq

On June 3, after a delay of three months, the second edition of Dhurwat al-Sanam (The Pinnacle) appeared on the web. This is the periodical issued by ‘the information department of the Organization of Qaedat al-Jihad in the Land of the Two Rivers (the full... MORE

Unraveling the Saga of Zarqawi’s Injury

The recent torrent of Internet and print media stories about the wounding and demise, and then the resurrection and return to battle, of al-Qaeda's commander in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, kicked up a great deal of dust but little solid information. After the initial announcement... MORE

SERGEI IVANOV CHALLENGES THE NEW POLITICAL GENERATION

After four years on the job, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has no impressive record of achievements. His most important "victory" happened some eleven months ago when Anatoly Kvashnin, the ambitious and stubborn chief of the General Staff, was fired and replaced with a quiet... MORE

ADMIRAL KUROYEDOV PLANS IMPROVEMENTS TO RUSSIAN NAVY

Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, has promised improvements to the Navy in response to the challenge of meeting emerging and future threats to the Russian state or its interests. These reforms, long overdue and vital if the collapse of the Navy is... MORE

RUSSIA SEEKS CLARITY IN RELATIONS WITH JAPAN

The Kremlin has urged Japan to show a "more concrete" interest in economic ties with Russia, while Moscow is yet to finalize its own Pacific oil pipeline plan. Meanwhile, prospects of a major economic breakthrough in bilateral relations have been hindered by the long-standing territorial... MORE

The Ongoing Baluch Insurgency in Pakistan

On May 14, four bombs went off in Gwadar, a coastal town in Pakistan’s western province of Baluchistan, where around 500 Chinese engineers and workers are busy building a deep-sea port. [1] On May 3, 2003, a bomb blast at the same site killed three... MORE

CIS PRIME MINISTERS’ MEETING: WHEN IRRELEVANCE MAKES NEWS

The prime ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States member countries convened on June 3 in Tbilisi for what turned out to be the briefest high-level meeting in the organization's history. It lasted 30 minutes; adopted more than 20 documents, apparently too irrelevant to be... MORE