Latest Articles about Middle East
Turkish-U.S. Relations on Rocky Ground over Role in Afghanistan
Relations between the United States and Turkey encountered a new obstacle in recent days. The latest disagreement comes, somewhat surprisingly, amid a period of overall warming and increased military and diplomatic cooperation between the two long-time NATO allies. The obstacle comes in the form of... MORE
LEV PONOMAREV: RUSSIA HAS FOUR CATEGORIES OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
“The desire of millions of our citizens for individual freedom and social justice is what defines the future of Russia’s political system,” President Vladimir Putin declared in his recent speech to the State Council, laying out Russia’s development strategy through 2020 (see EDM, February 11).... MORE
MOSCOW LOSES BRAZIL SUBMARINE DEAL TO PARIS
In 2007 Russia became the world's second-largest arms exporter, exceeded only by the United States. As Moscow seeks out new markets, it is increasingly eyeing prospects in what Washington regards as its own backyard, Latin America. Moving beyond its long-standing contacts with Cuba to emerging... MORE
The Shaykh Said Revolt and Ankara’s Return to the Past in its Struggle with the Kurds
After the recent admission by some of Turkey’s leading former military commanders that the military option was not the best or only way of resolving Turkey’s Kurdish problem, it is now becoming clear that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is taking a new... MORE
PUTIN WARNS AGAINST “IMMORAL” WESTERN INTERFERENCE IN HIS “STRATEGIC” SPEECH
The fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin was going to deliver a major address last Friday, February 8, had been kept secret until the middle of the week, when regional leaders were urgently summoned to Moscow for an expanded meeting of the State Council, a... MORE
RESEARCHERS STUDY THE “NATURE AND STRUCTURE” OF RUSSIAN CORRUPTION
In his February 8 speech to the State Council laying out Russia’s development strategy for the next 12 years, President Vladimir Putin contrasted his eight years in power favorably with, as he put it, “the chaos, economic ruin, and breakdown of the old system that... MORE
SOURCING THE NABUCCO PIPELINE TO PREVAIL AGAINST SOUTH STREAM
Gas reserves at Azerbaijan’s Shah-Deniz field would amply suffice for the Nabucco pipeline’s first commercial phase, from 2013 onward. However, investors would expect second-phase supplies to be reliably identified by the time construction work starts on the pipeline’s first phase. The start of construction is... MORE
Yemen’s Role in al-Qaeda’s Strategy
Osama bin Laden has always had a very soft spot in his heart for Yemen, saying that it is “one of the best Arab and Muslim countries in terms of its adherence to tradition and the faith … [its] topography is mountainous, and its people... MORE
DID GLONASS FAILURE SINK IVANOV’S CHANCE AT THE PRESIDENCY?
The Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) has long been a priority in the development of Russian space technologies. Last March, in a major speech on the future of space development, Russian President Vladimir Putin singled out global positioning as a field in which Russia... MORE
AMID VOWS TO LIMIT STATE INTERFERENCE, THE STATE’S STAKE IN BUSINESS GROWS
The members of President Vladimir Putin’s administration who are also the heads of state corporations are running again for re-election to the boards of those companies, which will have the effect of maintaining state control – and, perhaps more importantly, control by members of Putin’s... MORE