Latest Articles about Middle East
NOT QUITE 100 YEARS OF CURTAILED RUSSIAN PARLIAMENTARISM
Last week both chambers of the Russian parliament gathered for a special session in St. Petersburg to mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the first State Duma. Tsar Nicholas II had ordered the creation of an arena for political dialogue in a country... MORE
KREMLIN TRIES TO CONVINCE WARY WEST THAT STRONG GAZPROM IS GOOD FOR IT
Several seemingly disparate events that occurred this week -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks in Greece and Turkey, Russian President Vladimir Putin hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Siberian city of Tomsk, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev's visit to Washington, and the discussions... MORE
RUSSIAN FORCES DRILL FOR POSSIBLE REBEL OFFENSIVE IN NORTH CAUCASUS
Russian authorities are preparing for a summer or autumn rebel offensive in the North Caucasus. "It will be a hot summer," Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told AFP. As far back as January Russian generals had recognized the possibility of rebel attacks in any part... MORE
Osama bin Laden: Taking Stock of the “Zionist-Crusader War”
Osama bin Laden's statement broadcast by al-Jazeera television on April 23 shows the al-Qaeda chief on top of his rhetorical game [1]. Examined in the proper context—that is, in the context of al-Qaeda's self-defined, primary mission as the vanguard and inciter of jihad—bin Laden's speech... MORE
Fears of Intelligence Penetration of the GIMF
The fallout from the arrests of Saudi mujahideen following the Abqaiq attack and the suspicions of penetration of the al-Hesbah forum by intelligence agents (Terrorism Focus, April 11) continues to concern the jihadi forum participants. Under the present state of heightened alarm, the latest organization... MORE
RUSSIA-PACIFIC PIPELINE PROJECT BRUSHES OFF ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIONS
The Kremlin appears keen to deliver on its repeated pledge to connect Russia's oil fields with the Asia-Pacific region by a pipeline running from eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, despite protests by environmentalists. Semyon Vainshtok, head of the Transneft pipeline monopoly, recently dismissed objections... MORE
The Importance of the Western Sahara to Maghrebi Security
On March 11, 2004, as the world focused on the Madrid commuter bombings, there were reports that armed forces from Chad, Niger, and Mali had engaged a large group of operatives from the Algerian Salafist Group for Call and Combat (GSPC), and had inflicted significant... MORE
The Presence of Saudi Nationals in the Iraqi Insurgency
This article is based upon extensive research with knowledgeable sources that dealt with the author only on the strict condition of anonymity and non-attribution. It is widely recognized that Saudi nationals are currently participating in the Iraqi insurgency and have been involved in operations that... MORE
RUSSIA WALKS THE TIGHTROPE BETWEEN IRAN AND WASHINGTON
The virtually simultaneous revelation of U.S. contingency -- and even operational -- planning for Iran by Seymour Hersh in the New Yorker magazine and of Iran's capacity for enhancing uranium may not have generated a massive outpouring of overtly emotional replies in Russia. Indeed, Sergei... MORE
RUSSIAN PUNDITS SAY WORLD COMMUNITY DOES NOT HAVE LEVERAGE OVER IRAN
The Iranian leadership's announcement that Tehran has successfully enriched uranium prompted two types of reaction among Russia's analytic community. Most nuclear experts flatly dismiss Iran's overly triumphant claims, arguing that the country's specialists are pursuing routine research, that, if anything, the Islamic Republic is still... MORE