Latest Articles about Middle East

BIRD FLU OUTBREAK THREATENS TO DEVASTATE CENTRAL EURASIAN ECONOMY

As Russia and Kazakhstan are now threatened by the Asian bird flu, the outbreak is understood to potentially entail wider economic repercussions. In the words of Russia's popular newspaper Moskovsky komsomolets: "Europe is afraid of our poultry" (August 8). The first cases were confirmed in... MORE

PUTIN’S SINKING PRESIDENCY: WHAT EFFICIENCY?

Last week saw a significant shift of emphasis in the unseasonably hot political commentary in Moscow: It was not whether but how Vladimir Putin will secure a third presidential term for himself (Nezavisimaya gazeta, Grani.ru, August 3). The trigger for this re-targeting of professional speculations... MORE

New Qaeda threats to the UAE

Additional threats from the mujahideen against the United Arab Emirates emerged at the end of July, with a renewed warning from a group calling itself the "al-Qaeda Organization in the Emirates and Oman". It called for the dismantling of all U.S. military installations within ten... MORE

Al-Qaeda expanding into Palestine?

On August 2 a posting on the forum al-Mustaqbal al-Islami (Islamic Future) included what it termed the "First Declaration of al-Qaeda from the Land of the Outpost, Occupied Palestine," specifically the ‘military wing' of a group calling itself "Alwiyat al-Jihad fi Ard al-Ribat" (The Jihad... MORE

TERRORISM DOMINATES RUSSIAN SECURITY AGENDA

Senior Russian security officials are once again confirming the importance and priority of terrorism in Russia's domestic security agenda. A mixture of exercises, discussions, and initiatives to advance the interests of the Federal Security Service (FSB) has culminated in substantial increases for Russian spending on... MORE

PUTIN’S ANTI-BALTIC MONOLOGUE REBUFFED

In an unprecedented development, a European head of state has publicly and outspokenly refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusations that Estonia and Latvia oppress their Russian residents. Most European officials are aware that those accusations are unfounded, but would not contradict the Kremlin publicly. Visiting... MORE

DISENTANGLING THE MOSCOW-BERLIN AXIS: FOLLOW THE MONEY

Russian foreign policy under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has been generally undetermined and often opportunistic with only one constant: strategic partnership with Germany. This country definitely occupies the central place in Putin’s worldview: those several years he spent in the KGB’s Dresden office in the mid-1980s... MORE

KREMLIN ENVOY SAYS BRUSSELS IS A DIFFICULT PARTNER

On July 25, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed veteran diplomat Vladimir Chizhov to be Russia's permanent representative at the European Union. Assessing his new role, the Kremlin envoy conceded that the recently expanded EU had become a tougher partner for Moscow. But Chizhov himself is... MORE