Latest Articles about Middle East
RUSSIA LAUNCHES MASSIVE PROGRAM TO DEVELOP BLACK SEA PORTS
On July 11 Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov and Transport Minister Igor Levitin unveiled a comprehensive modernization program for Russian Black Sea ports during an inspection visit there. The program is ambitious in both scale and pace, with most of its goals scheduled... MORE
Firefight in Iraq Exposes Presence of Turkish Al-Qaeda Operatives
The northward moves by Kurdish rebels into Turkey in recent weeks and their bombings of Turkish military and civilian targets have been reported extensively, as have the consequent threats by the Turkish military to move into Iraq to bring about a halt to the Kurdistan... MORE
RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE ATTACK IN NORTH OSSETIA
On the night of July 6, Caucasian rebels carried out a hit-and-run raid on the Russian military garrison in Ingushetia. First reports of the incident came from the Ingushetiya.ru website. The website reported that starting at 12:45 am, sounds of shooting and explosions could be... MORE
MOSCOW RECONSIDERS ABANDONING CFE
In his annual address to the Russian Federal Assembly on April 26 President Vladimir Putin announced “a moratorium on Russia’s implementation of the CFE treaty until all NATO countries ratify it and start to strictly adhere to it” (see EDM, May 2). The Conventional Forces... MORE
MOSCOW DERAILS WESTERN POLICY ON KOSOVO
Russia has forced the United States and European Union to blink in the standoff over Kosovo. Unable to overcome Moscow’s stonewalling in the U.N. Security Council and apparently losing the resolve to bypass it, the United States and European allies have accepted yet another postponement... MORE
Yemen Attack Reveals Struggle Among Al-Qaeda’s Ranks
Throughout the spring and early summer, a schism has emerged within the ranks of Al-Qaeda in Yemen, pitting younger, more radicalized members against the moderate old guard. These strategic differences materialized on July 2, when a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Spanish tourists in... MORE
Maliki Government Faces a Governance Crisis
Post-Baathist Iraq is undergoing a perilous phase in its short history. The Nuri al-Maliki government, which was formed in May 2006 as the first "unity government" after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, is now facing a major breakdown in its multi-sectarian coalition. In late... MORE
FROM SCHROEDER TO STOIBER?
Russian President Vladimir Putin received Edmund Stoiber, the head of Bavaria’s government and chairman of Germany’s conservative Christian-Social Union (CSU, Bavarian wing of Germany’s governing Christian-Democrat/Christian Social Union), on July 5 for a four-hour meeting in Moscow. During this meeting, Stoiber endorsed Russia’s goal of... MORE
RUSSIA WINS OLYMPIC BID, NOW MUST REALIZE AMBITIOUS PLANS
The fish that President Vladimir Putin caught while sailing with U.S. President George W. Bush and former president George H.W. Bush at Kennebunkport, Maine, turned out to be a lucky one. After Maine, Putin’s next stop was Guatemala City, where he delivered an emotional speech... MORE
RUSSIA’S GIANT BUREISKAYA HYDROPOWER PLANT NEARS COMPLETION
On July 5 Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (UES) launched the fifth power-generating unit of its flagship project in the Far East, the Bureiskaya plant, in Talakan, Amur region. The plant’s first unit was launched in June 2003 and is due to be completed in 2008... MORE