Epstein Secrets

Kremlin wouldn't block future Security Council resolutions on Syria. The Kremlin refused, but the details of the offer were leaked to the press by Middle Eastern and Western sources, and then subsequently denied by the Russian Foreign Ministry. It must have been the happiest denial the ministry has issued in

speaking at an international conference on this very topic held in Beirut, Lebanon, from Nov. 27-30. The conference was attended by 45 scholars of Middle Eastern and Kurdish studies from the United States, Europe and the Middle East. The consensus of the conferees was that the possibility of the emergence of

ng Russian naval ships, likely as an improved backup in the event that the Syrian regime does collapse and Moscow loses its only warm-water port at Tartus. "Tartus is vulnerable and not good enough and the Egyptian ports are perfect for the Russian navy," an unnamed Israeli defense official told the S

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tional Council from the Syrian National Coalition. Many of the more moderate forces (great caution should be used in applying that word anywhere in the Middle East), are now awaiting events, fatigued by ineffective internecine combat. It is hard to figure out who is in the Free Syrian Army, Supreme Military Co

ntrymen. Russia ignores European and American disapproval and does what's necessary to maintain its Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port of Tartus, and pretends to continue as a rival to the power of the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. The conduct of the United States has been

yahu said. "It's an Iranian- backed terror organization committed to Israel's destruction." On Sunday he told his cabinet that for Israel, living in the Middle East required self-sufficiency and toughness. "In such a region," he said, "the only thing that ensures our existence, security and prosperity is our st

ti- Semitism. It has also combined its continuing alliance with the West with a growing tone of independence, making the former more respectable in Middle Eastern eyes. This has made the AKP a "model," or at least a source of inspiration, for more progressive Arab Islamist parties that have emerged victoriou

he United States lacks after letting the Mubarak regime go down quickly. The real question is whether Russia will keep the Soviet-era naval base in Tartus on Syria's Mediterranean coast. While the disagreement on Libya led to Russia's abstention in the Security Council and was soon forgotten, the spa

t more important, the Russian and Chinese hope has been that the United States would continue to treat them as secondary issues while it focused on the Middle East. The decline of al Assad and the resulting dynamic in the region increases the possibility that the United States can disengage from the region. Th

ns that abut it suggest a process of ethnic cleansing to prepare the way. An Alawite coastal ministate that folds in the port cities of Latakia and Tartus, home to the Russian navy's key warmwater port, may not be viable in the long run, but that doesn't mean the regime's core won't try for one. Even

militarily, but it might well be driven to forge a stronger strategic partnership with China, which also opposes foreign military interventions in the Middle East and has joined Russia in vetoing UN Security Council resolutions on Syria. China has been ambivalent in the past about Russian overtures to ally ag

o allow intervention in Syria? Assad would still be one of Moscow's principal allies in the Middle East. Russia would still have port facilities at Tartus. It would still want to protect the principle that a government can suppress popular demonstrations by any means it chooses, including the kinds of

FTA00659891 their first contested leadership election in 7,000 years, how should we understand the speed, scope and variety of change transforming the Middle East? A year ago, the narrative was simple -- Arabs had awoken from their millennial slumber and demanded to be citizens, not subjects. But since then,

f the Assad regime would almost inevitably decrease Russian power in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Syria has hosted Russia's naval base in Tartus for several decades and, since 1971, Syria has been Moscow's closest Arab ally. Syria is the largest Arab purchaser of Russian weapons and is seen

TShirn o n Post 22 June, 2011 Article 1. Article 2. The Washington Post Avoiding a summer of blood David Ignatius Project Syndicate The Middle East's Slow-Motion Revolution Prince El Hassan bin Talal Article 3. Stratfor Turkey's Inevitable Problems With Neighbors Agence Global A Defiant Asad S

ossible, for the opposition to topple him. At the UN and elsewhere, Syria enjoys the protection of Russia -- perhaps concerned for its naval base at Tartus. The Russian view is that the Syrian crisis poses no threat to international peace and EFTA_R1_02031589 EFTA02690698 15 security. China, India,

ther when Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi in Moscow on May 6, 2011. They announced their grave concern over Middle Eastern events. Furthermore, they would now coordinate actions to bring about a "speedy stabilization" of the situation and prevent negative unpredictable

rivate "slush funds." Beyond that, Libya has also reportedly offered Russia a naval base in Benghazi while Syria has offered Moscow a naval base at Tartus. These events suggest that in return for arms sales host states are being pressured to give Moscow access to foreign bases. We have also seen this

y of their sworn Shiite enemy, Iran, which destabilizes the region with terrorism and nuclear threats. For the Saudis, depriving the Russians of a Middle Eastern toehold is an added bonus. The two countries share a long-standing animus. In the 1970s, the Saudis used their enormous oil wealth to inflict pain

ia's last opportunity to exert leverage in a region where, since the Cold War's end, almost every other country has turned to Washington for arms. Tartus, the second-largest port in Syria, has been the cornerstone of Russian-Syrian naval cooperation since the 1970s. In the past decade, the Russians h

ric Persian ambitions and also played on sharply anti-Western sentiments in the region. Iran's clerical regime worked to spread the revolution across the Middle East; Saudi Arabia and its allies worried that it would succeed. For a time it looked like it might. There were large demonstrations and purported antigov

rs shot have been identified as Muhammad Awadh Qanbar and Murad Hajoo, who died in Maddiyah. A third soldier was shot in the port city of Banias. In Tartus, Der'aah and the Kurdish city of Qamishli, Alawite elite units have replaced the regular army with orders to crush the demonstrations. Some special