New round of talks over Iran's nuclear program are about to begin in the Austrian capital Vienna in a few hours. How much progress will this round make depends on whether the West is serious about resolving this artificial crisis or is it merely using it to exert pressure on Iran in an attempt to force it to change its independent policy.
Crimeans have defied Western calls to boycott the referendum and have voted overwhelmingly to join Russia. Early results from more than 50 percent count showed that 95.7 percent of the vote was in favor of joining Russia. Western rulers are livid with the result and have vowed not to accept it but what can they do?
The Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people of the peninsula who are Muslims, have been completely ignored in the gladiatorial tussle between the Western-backed neo-Nazis that have grabbed power in Kiev and the Kremlin bosses led by Vladimir Putin.
The Western-inspired unrest in Ukraine can only go so far. Russia will not allow its interests to be undermined in such a brazen manner by the US. Without European Union support, that has no stomach for a fight on its borders, the US will not achieve its objectives.
Deft diplomacy by Russia and the Islamic Republic of Iran helped US President Barack Obama save face over Syria. He had got himself into a bind until the Russians’ offered him an escape route.
The speed with which developments vis-à-vis US-Iran relations occurred in the last week of September has given rise to guarded optimism. There is, however, a long way to go.
Russia acknowledges Hizbullah's strategic influence in the Middle East.
The US is not as helpless in Central Asia as thought of, nor is Russia as powerful and liked as is generally believed. Each views the other as a threat to its interests.
Russia is determined to assert itself in Central Asia and the Caucasus by using its former puppets to advance its agenda. Some republics offer better prospects than others.
The unfolding events in Tatarstan clearly show that Russia is facing a serious challenge in maintaining its current borders.
Russia’s grip on the North Caucasus is becoming more complicated and therefore, loosening up as a consequence of recent developments.
Muslim states and many Islamic movements fail to distinguish between the erstwhile USSR and today’s Russia due to the deep-seated association of Russia with the Soviet Union. Similarly, many Muslims have not taken into account that today’s Russia does not seek to be a global power because it has accepted the dominant Western global order.
Publicly acknowledged divisions by pro-independence forces in the North Caucasus may completely bury the last remaining traces of the movement once known as the Chechen resistance.
Under the concept of Pan-Turkism, NATO aimed to foster separatism within the Turkic people living in Russia, China and Iran
A solution based on the principles of the Prophet’s (r) Sunnah and Sirah would allow Armenians in Karabakh to acquire true independence. The “independence” they have today has turned Karabakh Armenians into a political instrument of Russia and the US...
The inability to subordinate Russia to all western political demands triggered a search to find leadership cracks in Russia. In the past few months media outlets and think-tanks worldwide have indulged in the “investigative” task...
This month marks exactly 15 years since the beginning of the war in Chechnya. During this time, the concept of Chechen identity and of Chechnya itself became embodied in war and conflict.
China's Muslim Hui Community: Migration, Settlement and Sects by Michael Dillon. Pub: Curzon Press, Richmond, UK, 1999. Pp: 208. Hbk: UK40.00.
The NPT was opened for signatures in 1968. Initially, the US, Soviet Union, Britain and 59 other countries signed the treaty...
