Latest Articles about Middle East

RUSSIA’S FAR EASTERN WORKERS WARY OF CHINESE MIGRANTS

The Russian government has urged accelerated development of the country's Far East and pledged sizable investments for regions bordering China and the Pacific. However, some executives of Russia's state-controlled enterprises apparently prefer to rely on imported labor in their Far Eastern projects, prompting loud complaints... MORE

WILL PUTIN ACCEPT MEDVEDEV’S INVITATION?

The United Russia party is holding a congress today, December 17, during which it will likely officially nominate First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as its presidential candidate, thereby formalizing a move that the party made jointly with three other pro-Kremlin parties a week ago... MORE

Turkish Military Strikes PKK Targets in Northern Iraq

On April 12, Chief of the Turkish General Staff Yaşar Büyükanıt said that a cross-border operation into northern Iraq was necessary to better fight the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It took eight months, over 200 Turkish casualties and several very important meetings... MORE

MEDVEDEV – A FACELESS FUTURE RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has finally designated First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as his preferred successor. Almost immediately, Medvedev announced that he will ask Putin to be his prime minister "in the interests of the continuity of Putin's internal and foreign policies" (RIA-Novosti, December... MORE

IS RUSSIA’S “OPERATION SUCCESSOR” FINALLY OVER?

Yesterday’s announcement by United Russia and three other parties that First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will be their candidate in the March 2008 presidential election, followed by President Vladimir Putin’s blessing of Medvedev’s candidacy, appears at first glance to mean that “Operation Successor” has... MORE

Imprisoned Leader of Egypt’s Islamic Jihad Challenges al-Qaeda

The Salafi-Jihadi ideology, the doctrine and constitution of al-Qaeda’s terrorists, is being re-evaluated by prominent Salafi-Jihadi ideologues. The same ideologues that previously sanctioned terrorist operations are now having second thoughts about the ideology behind many heinous terrorist acts. Last month Sayed Imam Abdulaziz al-Sharif, a... MORE

MOSCOW LAMBASTES WEST DURING ELECTION LULL

Russia has slipped into a distinctly anti-climactic mood since the December 2 parliamentary elections delivered exactly the result planned in the Kremlin. In hindsight the massive propaganda campaign appears to be overkill, leaving an aftertaste of Soviet manifestations of “unbreakable unity,” so even the triumphant... MORE