Latest Articles about Middle East
Assessing the Six Year Hunt for Osama bin Laden
More than six years after the September 11 attacks, Osama bin Laden remains free, healthy and safe enough to produce audio- and videotapes that dominate the international media at the times of his choosing (Terrorism Focus, September 11). Popular and some official attitudes in the... MORE
Reports of PKK Internal Dissension on the Rise
An increasing number of recent reports detail what appear to be the signs of growing stress within the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). First, there are reports of numbers of people leaving the PKK, a sign of a beleaguered organization, not one that is thriving. It... MORE
RUSSIA GETS THE GOVERNMENT THAT WILL EASE PUTIN OUT
It took Russian President Vladimir Putin only a few hours to appoint a new prime minister after sacking the indifferent Mikhail Fradkov, who never was up to the job and never pretended to be. But it took nearly two weeks to form a new Russian... MORE
MOSCOW PROMISES HUGE FUNDS TO DEVELOP FAR EAST, BUT EXISTING PROJECTS SLOW TO MATERIALIZE
The Russian government plans to allocate up to 600 billion rubles ($23.6 billion) to fund development projects in Eastern Siberia and Far East by 2013, Kamil Iskhakov, presidential envoy in the Far East, told the Far Eastern International Economic Forum on September 18. Total investments... MORE
MOSCOW HINTS AT ITS NUISANCE VALUE TO ALLIED OPERATIONS IN AFGHANISTAN
Russia abstained in the UN Security Council’s September 20 vote to prolong the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, a NATO-led operation. This is the first time since 2001 that Russia withheld its approval from an allied operation (U.S.-led Enduring Freedom... MORE
RUSSIAN SECURITY SERVICES KILL DAGESTANI REBEL LEADER
Early on the morning of September 17, specialized detachments from the Russian police and the Federal Security Service (FSB) surrounded a small house in the village of Novy Sulak, located in the Kyzyl-Yurt district of Dagestan. Two armed rebels were inside the house. The troops... MORE
GENERAL DECLARES RUSSIAN NUKES SECURE
This month the secretive, nuclear 12th Main Directorate of the Defense Ministry celebrated its 60th birthday. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin created the directorate on September 6, 1947, to supervise nuclear tests. Today Russian nukes are produced by the Rosatom Federal Nuclear Energy Agency and then... MORE
STRATEGIC ISSUES FACING THE NABUCCO PROJECT
The Nabucco gas pipeline project is back on track (see EDM, September 19), preparing for an actual start. However, this project has a history of being derailed before even starting. In order to avoid any more derailments, this project needs to resolve a number of... MORE
ZUBKOV: THE TAX MAN COMETH?
Just one week after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s surprise dismissal of the government, experts and commentators in Moscow still remain in the dark about the real meaning of this development. It took only a few hours for the Kremlin to announce the name of the... MORE
Iran Moves Against PJAK in Northern Iraq
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's most recent campaign of shelling Kurdish villages in northern Iraq, which allegedly targeted members of the outlawed Kurdish opposition group the Party for Freedom and Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), eventually culminated with Iranian troops entering Iraqi Kurdish territory on August 23.... MORE