Epstein Secrets

for it, Bashar al-Assad. The Syrian civil war— particularly the White House's inept and improvisational response to it—has accidentally transformed Putin into a major power- broker for the post-Arab Spring Middle East. (This is no small feat considering that Sunni Muslim antipathy toward Russia is at

ing in Cairo as a direct result of EFTA00706389 its government's support for the still-popular military regime: "The positive stance of President Vladimir Putin towards the June revolution was behind the rise in his popularity." Portraits of Putin today hang alongside those of Sisi in Cairo. The Russian-Eg

litary regime: "The positive stance of President Vladimir Putin towards the June revolution was behind the

s, which is why we are here again still trying to make this happen today. Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. Article 3 Project-Syndicate Middle East Frenemies Bernard Haykel & Daniel Kurtzer Dec

co The Ambivalent Superpower Robert Kagan Anecle I. NYT What Is Russia's Aim in Ukraine? Ed t o r a 1 EFTA00684250 Feb. 28, 2014 -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia played the genial host at the Olympic Games in Sochi, but his dangerous approach to geopolitics could be his true legacy. On Friday, Ukr

e promising to defend the interests of Russian citizens in Ukraine, Moscow has said it will not intervene by force. EFTA00684251 But whether Mr. Putin will abide by that promise is unclear. In 2008, he sent Russian forces into neighboring Georgia, ostensibly to protect the secessionist Georgian en

r a 1 EFTA00684250 Feb. 28, 2014 -- President Vladimir Putin of Russia played the genial host at the Ol

sides, rather than making this impossible, as the Israeli approach does. Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star, and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. Al Monitor US, Saudi still far apart on regional issues EFTA00684264 Abdulmajeed al-

of this, McFaul issued a strong statement against NTV — the channel controlled by Gazprom, a state-owned company with close ties to President-elect Vladimir Putin — and famous for its aggressive "exposés" about the Russian opposition and the supposed U.S. subversive activities aimed at destabilizing Russia.

security conference in Seoul. During a conversation that was caught on a hot mic, Medvedev promised to deliver Obama's kind words and intentions to Putin, the man who effectively pulls the strings at Gazprom and its media subsidiaries. But in reality, many of McFaul's problems in Moscow are rooted i

es Kremlin Sees Obama as Weak EFTA00686705 I Vladimir Ryzhkov I Anicic I. NYT A Middle East Twofer

cy towards Iran, where coordination and coercion seem especially confused? Rami G. Khouri is Editor-at-large of The Daily Star and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, in Beirut, Lebanon. Anicic 6. The Diplomat Is Africa the Next Asia? EFTA00686722 Richard Aidoo April 3,