Latest Articles about Middle East
YUKOS-MENATEP EXECS TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing yesterday (February 17) on "Democracy in Retreat in Russia." The star witnesses were Steven Theede, the embattled Yukos oil company's chief executive officer, and Tim Osborne, a member of the board of directors of Group... MORE
CAN RUSSIA TAKE ITS PLACE IN THE G8 FOR GRANTED?
International financier George Soros has once again shown his unique talent as a newsmaker. In an interview with the Austrian Die Presse, he suggested expelling Russia from the G8 due to its retreat from democracy. The Russian media instantly jumped on the story (Izvestiya, February... MORE
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
WILL VENEZUELA SEND RUSSIAN WEAPONS TO SOUTH AMERICAN TERRORISTS?
Russian foreign policy seems to be increasingly affected by an unresolved schizophrenia that causes it to strike blindly at America, even if it gains little in the process. Last month Russia tried to sell Syria, a known sponsor of terrorism and opponent of the Middle... 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
MOSCOW’S MIDAS PROBLEM: WHAT TO DO WITH ALL ITS PETRO-DOLLARS?
It looks like the Kremlin will manage to ride out the wave of social protests surrounding the monetization of social benefits without having to sacrifice Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. Meanwhile, the government is squabbling over what to do with the Stabilization Fund -- the excess... MORE
MOSCOW EYES ENERGY IMPLICATIONS OF NORTHEAST ASIA’S CHANGING INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
As maneuvering continues around Russia's major oil and gas pipeline projects, Russian experts seek to clarify trends in the ongoing multilateral energy game. There appears to be a consensus that Siberia's hydrocarbon riches are set to become an important source of energy supplies for Northeast... 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