Latest Articles about Middle East
LEADING POLITICAL SCIENTIST ADMINISTERS LAST RITES TO REFORM HOPES
Has the conflict between Russia and Georgia jeopardized hopes that Russia can pursue a path of economic modernization based on “innovation,” as both President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin have promised? That view was put forward by political scientist Lilia Shevtsova, of the... MORE
RUSSIA EYES “TRANSIT SUPERPOWER” STATUS
Despite continuing disagreements with the West, Russia's top officials have pledged to turn the Eurasian nation into a "transit superpower" to link Europe and Asia by developing transcontinental railways and encouraging infrastructure development projects. New transportation infrastructure projects would allow Russia to emerge as a... MORE
RUSSIA AND OPEC–A MARRIAGE OF CONVENIENCE OR SOMETHING WORSE?
While most American analysts are concentrating on Hurricane Ike and its potentially destructive path through the Gulf of Mexico with its offshore platforms and coastal refineries, other are fascinated by OPEC’s recent 149th meeting in Vienna on September 9 and 10, which was attended by... MORE
MOSCOW EXTENDS CONFRONTATION WITH THE WEST TO THE CARIBBEAN
The Defense Ministry in Moscow announced this week that warships and long-range bombers would be deployed to the Caribbean for joint military exercises with Venezuela in November. Russia's most powerful warship, the nuclear cruiser Pyotr Velikii, will lead the flotilla, accompanied by a frigate Admiral... MORE
RUSSIA’S CENTRAL ASIAN EXERCISES WITH KAZAKHSTAN FOCUS ON DEFENDING ENERGY ASSETS
On September 4 joint Russian-Kazakh military exercises began at the Chebarkul training range near Chelyabinsk, Russia. The exercises, long planned in the framework of the deepening military cooperation between the two countries, involved around 2,000 servicemen, more than 100 units of armored vehicles, and 30... MORE
Is the PKK Seeking New Bases in the Turkish Interior?
As of August 2008, it appears that operations of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan – PKK) have shifted toward a strip of Turkish territory crossing through Tunceli, Bingol, Mus, and Bitlis provinces, a region where the PKK previously conducted limited activities. The following... MORE
MEDVEDEV RESTRUCTURES THE INTERIOR MINISTRY
President Dmitry Medvedev has launched a reorganization of Russia’s Interior Ministry that some observers say raises it in importance above the country’s other “power” agencies and ministries and could presage a stepped-up campaign against the Kremlin’s critics and political opponents under the guise of fighting... MORE
RUSSIA ASSEMBLES ITS ALLIES AND PONDERS THE CONTENT OF ITS “PRIVILEGED INTERESTS”
The Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has never amounted to much as an alliance which ties Russia with six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Its summit in Moscow last Friday, however, was perhaps the most important event in the 16 years... MORE
RUSSiANS DOUBT OBJECTIVITY OF OFFICIAL MEDIA WHILE SHARING THEIR SENTIMENTS
A national poll conducted by the independent Levada Center over August 15-22 – that is, in the immediate wake of the five-day Russo-Georgian war – found a high degree of anti-Western and particularly anti-American sentiment. A total of 75 percent of the respondents stated that... MORE
Murky Past of Turkey’s Gendarmerie Intelligence Emerges in Ergenekon Investigation
In late August, the Turkish media reported that retired Colonel Arif Dogan had confessed to being the founder of the intelligence wing of the Turkish Gendarmerie, known in Turkish as the Jandarma Istihbarat ve Terorle Mucadele (JITEM - Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terror), a controversial security... MORE