Epstein Secrets

could be worse for Baku if proof of complicity leaks out. And, pipeline routing disputes aside, all five Caspian littoral states — Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan — share an obvious interest in ensuring energy stability. Given what's at stake, Baku has been careful about pursuing an

r goal of "exporting the Islamic revolution" would not succeed. No doubt that Arafat's close ties with Saddam Hussein, a nemesis of both Assad and Khomeini, and his concession to recognize Israel also widened the chasm between the PLO and the Islamic Republic. From Assad's standpoint, Arafat's relation

uld be worse for Baku if proof of complicity leaks out. And, pipeline routing disputes aside, all five Caspian littoral states — Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan — share an obvious interest in ensuring energy stability. Given what's at stake, Baku has been careful about pursuing an

r goal of "exporting the Islamic revolution" would not succeed. No doubt that Arafat's close ties with Saddam Hussein, a nemesis of both Assad and Khomeini, and his concession to recognize Israel also widened the chasm between the PLO and the Islamic Republic. From Assad's standpoint, Arafat's relatio

f interest in shale and oil reserves believed to be in Europe (Britain, France, Poland, Russia), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil) and Asia (China, Kazakhstan, India). World- wide oil supply is likely to surge, accommodating demand growth and replacing depletion—so that significant declines in prices are

onversely, views the world as essentially hostile, and many hardliners argue for a national security policy based on the most atavistic elements of Khomeini's worldview: international institutions and diplomacy are symptoms of an inequitable world, and a farce — self-reliance is the only option. And if

trouble this quickly. Even in 1989-90, those countries were the exception and not the rule. Think Ukraine, Belarus, Yugoslavia, Romania, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and of course Russia itself. More people live in countries where the 1989-90 revolutionary wave failed to establish secure constitutional

jad for various alleged frauds including, of all things, vote- buying in 2009! Ahmadinejad was booed during his June 3 speech commemorating Ayatollah Khomeini's death. Iran is characterized by what Farideh Farhi of the University of Hawaii recently termed "administrative chaos." That's not how you make a nu