Latest Articles about Middle East
WHILE PENSIONERS PROTEST, BUREAUCRATS THRIVE
As demonstrations against the Kremlin's benefits reform continue, some opponents of the changes have noted that while millions of pensioners, war veterans, and invalids have seen their in-kind social benefits replaced by meager cash payments ranging from $5 to $55 a month, the changes have... MORE
PUTIN’S ERODING SUPPORT BASE
Putin's extraordinary approval ratings have become a constant in the multi-variable equations of Russian politics; it is quite possible that they would remain up in the 60% range even after the January protests. Analysts have long argued about the real value of this popularity and... MORE
KREMLIN USES MIX OF OIL AND WEAPONS TO RESOLVE FAR EASTERN BORDER DISPUTES
Moscow has offered Japan and China different packages to improve bilateral relations. Russia and Japan remain divided by the Kuril territorial dispute, despite recent moves to mend differences through energy cooperation. Meanwhile, Moscow has so far refrained from large-scale commitments in energy ties with China... MORE
RUSSIA SENDS MIXED SIGNALS ON ANTI-TERRORISM
Senior officials within the Russian Navy confirmed that Russia would participate in the NATO-led Active Endeavor anti-terrorist operation in the Mediterranean Sea in 2005, though it has not committed as yet to permanent participation. In December 2004 NATO and Russian officials signed an agreement in... MORE
MOSCOW AND ANKARA STRENGTHEN ECONOMIC TIES AND EXPLORE PROSPECTS FOR STRATEGIC COOPERATION
The January 10-12 visit of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Moscow demonstrated a dramatically increased level of Russian-Turkish economic and political relations. As it took place just one month after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Ankara, the charismatic Turkish leader's trip appears to... MORE
MOSCOW THREATENS, SLOVENIAN CHAIR DITHERS, UKRAINE RALLIES AT OSCE
Addressing the 2005 inaugural session of the OSCE Permanent Council on January 13, Russia openly threatened to sink the organization unless it accepts Russian-prescribed "reforms." Permanent representative Alexei Borodavkin declared, "The situation has reached the critical point, and any further delay in reforming the organization... MORE
MISSILES FOR SALE : MOSCOW FINDS NO PROBLEM WITH SYRIA
As Russians returned to work following the extended New Year's holidays, the repercussions from a major arms-export deal began to be felt. Following a surprise cabinet meeting on January 2, Israel pulled every political string possible in order to tell Moscow to "stop it" in... MORE
RUSSIAN MISSILE MEN: ARE THEY NUTs?
Back in the 1980s there was a school of U.S. strategic analysts referred to as "NUTs" -- Nuclear Use Theorists. They argued that it was important to prepare for the limited use of nuclear weapons in order to maintain the U.S. deterrent against the Soviet... MORE
RUSSIA HIT BY A WAVE OF PROTESTS AGAINST GOVERNMENT BENEFITS POLICY
January 13 marked the fourth consecutive day of protests against the replacement of Soviet-era social benefits with cash payments. Demonstrations took place in cities across Russia, including Moscow Oblast, Izhevsk (the capital of Udmurtia), Kursk, Samara, Penza, and Ufa, the capital of Bashkortostan, where several... MORE
WANTED: COMPETITIVE IDEOLOGY AND ATTRACTIVE SOCIAL MODEL TO HELP RUSSIA RETAIN ITS CRUMBLING SPHERE OF INFLUENCE
The Kremlin's recent foreign-policy failures, particularly its inglorious defeat in the "battle for Ukraine," appear to have sparked a review of Russia's policies towards its neighbors in the post-Soviet space. Aware that Moscow is losing the geopolitical competition in the Commonwealth of Independent States to... MORE