
Latest Articles about Middle East

Novatek May Be Carving Out a Bigger Role in Russian Energy Diplomacy
Russia’s second-largest natural gas producer, Novatek, which captured the largest share of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market in Europe in the first quarter of 2019, has sold 20 percent of its planned Arctic 2 LNG project to China (Novatek.ru, April 25). The stake went... MORE

Is Russia Really Cutting Its Military Spending?
Military force remains a predominant instrument of choice for Russian policymakers; yet, state expenditures on the Armed Forces continue to decline. This paradoxical situation was recently highlighted by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) latest global military balance assessment, which the Russian media eagerly... MORE

Russian Proxy Diplomacy in Syria: Crimea and Sevastopol
As the war in Syria appears to wind down, the Kremlin is shifting its focus to rebuilding the country and reestablishing social order there based on Russia’s vision and interests. Importantly, Moscow is evidently transferring the responsibility for this effort down to the level of... MORE

Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide: Whither Jihadism in China?
Introduction—Ethnic Conflict in Xinjiang and the Government’s Response Over the past year, political re-education camps in the western Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) have attracted much international attention due to allegations that hundreds of thousands of Uighur Muslims are being detained... MORE

Operations Against Hasm Continue but Security Forces Still Face Challenges
Egyptian security forces killed seven alleged Hasm militants in a shootout that left one police officer wounded in Giza province, according to a statement made by the Ministry of Interior on March 7. [1] This latest incident underscores the continued threat Hasm militants pose to... MORE

Gazprom Resumes Imports of Turkmen Gas After Three-Year Break
The spokesperson for Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov, stated, on April 15, that the company had resumed gas imports from Turkmenistan (News Central Asia, April 16). His announcement was immediately confirmed by a statement from TurkmenGaz, Turkmenistan’s state natural gas company (Oilgas.gov.tm, April 15). Discussion on the... MORE

Russian Opposition to Putin’s War in Syria Grows Despite Kremlin Propaganda Effort
Many have been struck by the fact that Russians have largely not actively protested against President Vladimir Putin’s military actions in Syria, unlike against his war in Ukraine. It has been suggested that, perhaps, this reflects the fact that Russians know far more about Ukraine... MORE

Vega Strategic Services: Russian PMCs as Part of Information Warfare?
The Russian investigative agency Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) published a report, on March 28, stating that, in addition to private military armies, Russia has now created a Private Military Company (PMC) of a new type. Specifically, the report examines Vega Strategic Services Ltd. (Vega), “a... MORE

Russia Sets an Anniversary Ambush for NATO
The meeting of 29 foreign ministers from member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in Washington, DC, last week (April 3–4), marking the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Alliance, was not a joyful occasion for Russia. During the celebration, Russia was duly... MORE

Continued Fighting Between Islamic State and AQAP Complicates Security in al-Bayda
The United States has declared the fall of the Islamic State’s (IS) physical caliphate in Syria, but the group has found fertile ground outside of Syria and Iraq. The group has fared particularly well in some locations and struggled to expand in others, but even... MORE