Latest Articles about Middle East
KREMLIN USES NATO-RUSSIA COUNCIL AS A PLATFORM FOR ANTI-NATO POLEMICS
Russian President Vladimir Putin attended a session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) at the level of heads of state and governments on April 4 in Bucharest, as an epilogue to the NATO summit. NATO had initiated the invitation, while Putin played hard to get in... MORE
PUTIN’S “NEAR ABROAD” IS “NATO’S EAST” AS DISAGREEMENTS CONTINUE
At his press conference following his address to the session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC), Russian President Vladimir Putin engaged in a lengthy indictment of NATO policies across the board (www.kremlin.ru, Interfax, April 4, 5). Predictably criticizing the alliance’s open door to former Soviet-controlled countries,... MORE
PUTIN AND BUSH IRON OUT DIFFERENCES OVER MISSILE DEFENSE
Last week Russia's foreign policy transformed, at least in tone and spirit. The atmosphere of confrontation that has dominated official Russian statements and the state-controlled propaganda machine has been diluted by offers of friendship and cooperation. Vladimir Putin did not act as a lame-duck president... MORE
Improved Intelligence Behind Turkish Success in Latest Anti-PKK Operations
The latest operations by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) against the facilities and personnel of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq and in southeastern Turkey have displayed a growing competence on the part of the TSK in the use of real-time information in... MORE
Iran Charged with Infiltration and Sabotage of Iraq’s Awakening Councils
General Muhammad Abdullah al-Shahwani, head of Iraq’s intelligence service, released a statement on February 27 accusing the Iranian intelligence services of planning to sabotage the largely Sunni tribal-based Awakening Councils that have formed in Iraq to combat al-Qaeda. The statement was placed on the formal... MORE
ANALYSTS EXPECT A POWERFUL PRIME MINISTER AND A WEAK PRESIDENT IN RUSSIA
State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov, who also heads United Russia, has confirmed rumors that outgoing President Vladimir Putin will be picked as the party’s new leader during a party congress scheduled for April 14 and 15 (see EDM, March 28). “If Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin heads... MORE
KREMLIN CRITICS SAY POLITICAL REFORM MUST COME FIRST
President-elect Dmitriy Medvedev continued to sound liberal themes last week, telling an a forum devoted to the Internet held in Gorky-10 outside Moscow on April 3 that the answer to “the delicate question of the relationship between freedom of speech and responsibility” in cyberspace “is... MORE
GAZPROM EXPANDS STATE GRIP ON ENERGY ASSETS
As Russia's gas giant Gazprom moved closer to acquisition of the giant Kovykta gas field in Eastern Siberia's Irkutsk region, the deal was seen as yet another sign of the government's drive towards further boosting the state grip on the energy assets. Russia's TNK-BP indicated... MORE
NATO DEBATES ON UKRAINE AND GEORGIA ADD CLARITY ABOUT RUSSIA
NATO Membership Action Plans are, in essence, technical processes. With the Ukrainian and Georgian MAPs delayed, the Alliance must now address a broader issue of strategic policy regarding the position of Ukraine and Georgia in Europe and their relationship with NATO from this point onward.... MORE
Jordan’s Jihad Scholar al-Maqdisi is Freed from Prison
On March 12, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi—born Isam Muhammad Tahir al-Barqawi in 1959—was released from a Jordanian prison after almost three years imprisonment without trial (Al-Sharq al-Awsat, March 13). Maqdisi has long played a pivotal role in defining jihadist ideology. After taking part in the Afghan... MORE