Latest Articles about Middle East
Bin Laden Attempting to Strip U.S. Allies from Anti-Terrorism Coalition
Even before the full text of Osama bin Laden’s 29 November 2007 statement “To the European Peoples” [1] was available, Western officials and pundits were dismissing it as an “old tactic,” “ridiculous,” and as “Osama’s new nonsense” [2]. While such conclusions probably are comforting to... MORE
The Two Faces of Salafism in Azerbaijan
Much has been said about the activities of Salafis (Sunni Muslims who aspire to follow the example set by the first five generations of Muslims) and their organizations in Azerbaijan. However, many news reports and articles tend to portray them as terrorists or members of... MORE
Turkey’s Islamic Raiders of the Greater East Seeking Ties with al-Qaeda?
On November 20, police in the Turkish city of Izmir arrested six suspected members of the Islamic Raiders of the Greater East – Front (IBDA-C). The detainees are alleged to have established links with al-Qaeda and to have been only days away from staging a... MORE
SHVARTSMAN’S DESCRIPTION OF SILOVIKI BUSINESS PRACTICES – TRUTH OR FICTION?
The interview that Finansgroup head Oleg Shvartsman gave to Kommersant, which the newspaper published in its November 30 issue, has elicited a storm of reaction – almost eclipsing the December 2 parliamentary elections. Shvartsman claimed in the interview that his $3.2 billion fund management company... MORE
RUSSIAN REGULATORS BECOMING AWARE OF BAIKAL ENVIRONMENTAL WOES
This week Russian regulators suddenly moved to crack down on the factory poisoning Lake Baikal, the world’s largest reservoir of fresh surface water. On December 4 Russian Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev ordered the ministry’s environmental watchdog, Rosprirodnadzor, to sue the Baikal Pulp and Paper... MORE
ORGANIZATIONAL SETBACKS AT OSCE’S YEAR-END MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
A consensus-based decision that Lithuania would chair the OSCE in 2011 became the only bright spot on the organization’s horizon at its year-end meeting in Madrid (see EDM, December 4). Other organizational issues, however, increasingly jeopardize the OSCE’s viability, after robbing it of effectiveness. Russia... MORE
KREMLIN LANDSLIDE WILL PROMOTE CONFRONTATION
The December 2 elections to the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, predictably ended in a landslide victory for the ruling United Russia party, headed by President Vladimir Putin. Only one opposition party -- the Communists -- will be represented in the Duma with... MORE
OSCE’S YEAR-END CONFERENCE NOT COPING WITH SECURITY ISSUES
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe held its year-end conference on November 29–30 in Madrid. Under Russian pressure and with the collaboration of the Spanish chairmanship, the organization registered new setbacks from which it may no longer be able to recover. Russian President... MORE
OSCE’S DEMOCRACY AGENDA SET BACK AT YEAR-END MEETING
President Vladimir Putin’s November 30 decree, suspending Russia’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, was one of several Kremlin-inflicted humiliations of the OSCE during the organization’s year-end meeting in Madrid. In a parallel move, Russia imposed crippling restrictions on the ability of... MORE
UNITED RUSSIA “WINS” A CONSTITUTIONAL MAJORITY IN THE STATE DUMA
Preliminary results from Russia’s December 2 parliamentary election show that four parties have won representation in the next State Duma, with the lion’s share going – to no one’s surprise – to the United Russia party. According to the Central Election Commission, as of 10... MORE