Latest Articles about Middle East

SECURITY IN CENTRAL ASIA MOVES CLOSER TO MOSCOW’S ORBIT

Recent events within Central Asia, ranging from maneuvers toward Western military deployment in Kyrgyzstan to political statements from Bishkek indicating the intention of closer security integration with Russia, coupled with accusations from Uzbek officials that Kazakhstan is harboring terrorists, highlight the complexity of post-9/11 security... MORE

BLACK SEA WATCH

Romanian President Traian Basescu's just-completed first visit to Moscow occasioned discussion on a new proposal on Black Sea sub-regional security. The matter came up during Basescu's session with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It contemplates creating an "operational group" of the six riparian countries to combat... MORE

PRIMAKOV’S VISIT TO THE MIDDLE EAST: HIGH PROFILE, FEW RESULTS

In recent months, Moscow has launched several foreign policy initiatives as part of an effort to recapture something of its vanished influence in the Middle East. Since 1991 Russian officials have periodically claimed that Arab leaders have solicited Moscow's return to the region to counterbalance... MORE

U.S.-RUSSIA RELATIONS: TURNING POINT OR DEAD END?

Clearly, the recent democratic transitions in Georgia and Ukraine have put the U.S.-Russia relationship under strain. The crucial factor in U.S.-Russia relations may now be the future evolution of the political system inside Russia. Thus far, the Bush administration has tended to turn a blind... MORE

KREMLIN REDEFINING POLICY IN “POST-SOVIET SPACE”

In a marathon-length press conference on February 3, Kremlin political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky laid certain Russian markers in Eurasia ahead of the George W. Bush-Vladimir Putin summit and, by the same token, seized the moment to announce a major redefinition of Russia's policy in the... MORE

RUSSIA’S CONFUSING PACIFIC OIL GAME

Although Moscow's East Asian policies have been eclipsed by the oil and gas game, the long saga of Russia's desire to create a Pacific oil pipeline, coupled with the controversial Yuganskneftegaz sell-off, have added a measure of confusion to Russia's ties with China. Last December,... MORE

RUSSIA-JAPANESE RELATIONS AT A FAMILIAR IMPASSE

Despite initial hopes that Russian President Vladimir Putin would visit Japan in March, the month is rapidly approaching without a date being set. Thirty years ago, at the height of detente, there was great hope for Russo-Japanese relations. The script then stated that, despite tense... MORE