Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
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Russia’s Armed Forces: Adrift in a Storm
Since the highly ambitious reform of Russia’s conventional armed forces was launched, December became a month for setting out future plans, achieving key targets or making various claims about its “success.” December 2009, for instance, marked the official completion of the transition to the brigade-based... MORE
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High-profile Murders in Kabardino-Balkaria Underscore the Government’s Inability to Control Situation in the Republic
On December 29, 2010, a prominent Circassian ethnographer, Arsen Tsipinov, was gunned down at the doorsteps of his home in a suburb of Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. Tsipinov was known for his active role in promoting Circassian ethnic identity and culture. The ethnographer’s killing... MORE
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Russia Enters Year of Elections in the Shadow of a Shameful Verdict
The year 2010 could have been marked as “not-so-bad” in the still short annals of Russia’s post-Soviet history. It was the scorching summer heat and massive fires that would be remembered as the main feature of the year, but it also witnessed the return of... MORE
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The Return of Ali Salim al-Beidh: The Leader of Yemen’s Southern Secessionist Movement
In May 2009, Ali Salim al-Beidh officially reentered Yemeni politics with a speech addressed to his former constituents in southern Yemen. In the speech, al-Beidh called on southern Yemenis to continue their struggle against what he calls the military occupation of the south by the... MORE
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Straddling the New Ba’athist Divide: Iraq’s Ghazwan al-Kubeisi
The execution of Saddam Hussein on December 30, 2006, led to the cleaving of his Ba’ath party over the question of succession. At that time, the party which had ruled Iraq for 35 years and had hundreds of thousands in its membership was significantly degraded.... MORE
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Saudi Arabia’s Jihadi Jailbird: A Portrait of al-Shu’aybi Ideologue Nasir al-Fahd
In the mid-1990s, Saudi authorities clamped down on the relatively centrist Islamist opposition led by two prominent shaykhs at the helm of the al-Sahwa (awakening) movement named Salman al-Ouda and Safar al-Hawali. The crackdown on al-Ouda and al-Hawali resulted in a gap in the religious... MORE
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Erdogan Survives the WikiLeaks Challenge
Since the release of the US diplomatic cables, “WikiLeaks” has been affecting various aspects of Turkish domestic and foreign policies. As the country accounts for a large share of the cables, Turkey has witnessed a heated debate on the subject. While various media outlets broadcast... MORE
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Abdullah Azzam Brigades Claim to be Defenders of Sunnis in Lebanon
The Saudi leader of a Lebanese militant group has urged Sunni Muslims to refuse cooperation with institutions of the Lebanese state, which he claims are infiltrated and dominated by the Shiite Hezbollah movement. The criticism of Lebanon’s security structure was contained in a November 24... MORE
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Haqqani Network Shifting from North Waziristan to Pakistan’s Kurram Agency
Residents in the Kurram Agency of tribal northwest Pakistan believe that the Pakistani military has once again postponed military operations in North Waziristan Agency after its plan to shift the so-called “moderate Taliban” (including the notorious Haqqani Network) was exposed and severely criticized by some... MORE
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Kyrgyz Parliament Forms New Coalition
After the first unsuccessful attempt to form a ruling coalition, Kyrgyz Members of Parliament (MP’s) have attempted to re-establish one. Under the Respublika Party’s leadership, the Social-Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan (SDPK) and the Ata-Jurt Party joined a new coalition. Similar to the earlier effort, the... MORE