Latest Articles about Middle East
KREMLIN SABER RATTLING INCREASES AHEAD OF SCO SUMMIT
Last week Russian President Vladimir Putin, while meeting activists and leaders of pro-Kremlin youth movements, used rather bizarre language to describe Russia's standoff with Great Britain over the murder of former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London last November. According to the official Kremlin website, Putin... MORE
RUSSIA’S GAS PIPELINE NETWORK FACES REALITY CHECK
In recent weeks Russia has announced a number of high-profile export-oriented gas pipeline projects, notably the Europe-bound Nord Stream and South Stream, the China-bound Altai route, and the Caspian pipeline in Central Asia. However, all these pipelines will be connected with the existing Gazprom pipeline... MORE
Abu Yahya al-Libi: Al-Qaeda’s Theological Enforcer – Part 1
In the rising generation of post-9/11 al-Qaeda leaders, Abu Yahya al-Libi seems to be assuming the unique position of insurgent-theologian. Since escaping from U.S. detention at Bagram air base in Afghanistan in July 2005—with three other al-Qaeda fighters, one of whom, Faruq al-Iraqi, has since... MORE
The Many Faces of the PKK
Kurdish guerrillas have fought Turkish forces for almost a quarter of a century. Focusing attention solely on the approximately 5,500 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters, however, obscures the full dimension of the problems and threats faced by Turkey (Today's Zaman, June 28). An examination of... MORE
RUSSIAN SPECIAL SERVICES THRIVE IN QUASI-COLD WAR SETTING
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pivotal role in running the country is beyond doubt for the vast majority of Russians, but the institution they see as the next in importance, according to a recent Levada Center poll, is not the government or the church – but... MORE
SCO TO HOST “PEACE MISSION 2007” ANTI-TERRORIST DRILL IN AUGUST
Military analysts will be closely watching next month’s Shanghai Cooperation Organization anti-terrorist exercise, "Peace Mission 2007.” The drill will be the SCO’s largest joint exercise in its six-year history. Contingents from China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan will take part, along with their country’s... MORE
The CHP’s Role in Pushing Turkey toward a Cross-Border Operation
The attacks by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that have resumed since the summer of 2004 have left behind an unprecedented number of casualties. In the face of the deteriorating situation in its struggle against the PKK, the Turkish military has, on a number of... MORE
SOVIET-STYLE VEIL OF SECRECY HIDES RUSSIAN MISSILE FAILURES
Last month the Russian Navy announced a successful launch of the new Bulava (SS-NX-30) sea-based intercontinental ballistic missile. Igor Digalo, chief of the navy press service, declared, “The test was successful, the missile performed according to plan on all stages of flight, the warheads hit... MORE
MOSCOW ESCALATES DIPLOMATIC ROW WITH LONDON
Russian President Vladimir Putin has characterized the current deterioration of Russian-U.K. relations as a “mini-crisis” that would be overcome in the “interests of common sense.” In fact, however, this diplomatic row is shaping up like no other, and Putin’s definition of “common sense” might prove... MORE
Turkey’s Dark War: Counter-Terrorism Strategies for the 21st Century
Turkey has experienced a long and painful history of terrorism. During nearly two decades of terrorist attacks and brutal fighting with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), some 35,000 lives were lost. At present, secular Turkey's moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) government faces a... MORE