... above-mentioned reservations has sharply increased in recent years.
All reservations are made by Russia when signing the additional protocols in full conformity with the “letter and... ... not contradict globally shared norms of international law. They only clarify that the security assurances given to the States Parties to the NWFZ treaties will not be valid... ... point for the upcoming 10th NPT Review Conference is the issue of establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear and all other WMD and their means of delivery (WMDFZ)...
... the anti-Assad militants under its control. In doing so, Turkey wants to ensure the security of its borders and gain more room for the relocation of Syrian refugees. This... ... and the secret services won’t be enough for reliable stabilization. It is time for Russia and Turkey to seek more meaningful compromises based on a common vision of Syria’s... ... majority of the people.
Syria has sustained the biggest losses of all the conflicts in the Middle East. From 2011 through 2018, GDP fell by almost two thirds from $55 billion...
... with Turkey and Iran, oil price arrangements with Saudi Arabia and newly revived military ties with Egypt. It is again a player of some consequence in Libya, a power to which many Lebanese look to help them hold their country together, and a would-be security broker between Iran and the Gulf States — all this while maintaining an intimate relationship with Israel.
Today, such a degree of involvement with the Middle East obviously stands out in the Russian foreign policy landscape. Tomorrow, this is unlikely to be an exception. Already for some time, Moscow, in parallel with Washington, has been pursuing a political settlement in Afghanistan. This requires maneuvering between Kabul and the Taliban; ...
... was that military intervention would clear the border territory east of the Euphrates of Kurdish forces, create a “buffer security zone” in Syria, and prepare the ground for the return of refugees. By maintaining its partnership with Turkey within the framework of the Astana format, Russia has shown understanding of Turkish concerns based on the Turkish leaders’ assurances that they are committed to the territorial ... ... they shared, Saudi Arabia was increasingly displeased with the Trump administration’s chaotic and unpredictable policy in the Middle East. There were apprehensions that the U.S. was preparing to withdraw from the region. The Saudis were no longer sure ...
... whether the current period will become transitional on the way to a new, possibly more stable and fair world order. Or, chaos and the Hobbes “struggle of all against all” awaits us, writes Alexander Grushko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
To this day, Russia is a convinced supporter of multilateral approaches. We are obliged to this by our status of a nuclear power and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. We are actively shaping the positive agenda in the world. We are cooperating with like minds in the frames of Collective Security Treaty Organization, Commonwealth of Independent States, The Eurasian Economic Union, Shanghai Cooperation ...
... both countries actually agree on the fact that Assad is basically a horrible human being. For America, replacing tyrants in the Middle East has become something of a fun pet project (hello Hussein, hello Khaddafi, hello Mubarak, hello Saleh) and Assad fits this model quite well. For Russia, the horror of Islamic State[1] encroachment (which took over pieces of Syrian territory directly because of the state ... ... determined. Indeed, it has always been the amorphous and ambiguous nature of rebel opposition to Assad that posed the biggest security threat and concern to the region according to Russian intelligence analysis. Consequently, America has been deemed too ...
Media outlets and government circles both cringe and squirm when the subject of Westerners leaving the West to go fight in Syria and Iraq with the Islamic State arises. While acquiring data and calculating accurate numbers wildly diverges from source to source, there is no doubt that ANY number simply makes countries like the United States uncomfortable and perplexed: in short, how could anyone want to leave the land of the free, the tolerant, the open, the just and go fight for a group that represents...
... weapons. How does any country not feel that the U.S. is purposely compromising its own security and risking the lives of its people? Indeed, less than a year after the announcement... ... operational missions. Pakistan and China seem to be openly courting this very behavior today. Middle East Israel Defense Forces (IDF) actually succeeded in destroying a drone that... ... objective was successful but they were certain that the drone was not American, Chinese, or Russian: IDF claimed it to be an Iranian drone assembled in Lebanon and flown by Hezbollah...
... sense of strategic analysis that is built more upon long-term economic and national security priorities, which is an approach that woefully few Western countries ever find... ... price slide has clearly put greater teeth into the American sanctions imposed against Russia, as it has hurt the Russian ruble significantly. Sanctions alone for the first... ... seems in the world of high economic ‘political finance,’ especially in the Middle East when it comes to global energy markets. Saudi Arabia is ‘punishing’...
... hidden inside his cavalier attitude: apparently even Presidents are not above being petulant.
There can be little debate about President Obama’s intent to insult and offend, declaring that ‘it was important to keep things in perspective. Russia doesn’t make anything…Immigrants aren’t rushing to Moscow in search of opportunity. The life expectancy of the Russian male is around 60 years old. The population is shrinking.’ Judging by these rather truculent comments,...