Russia Stages Missile Test, With Putin Taking the Helm. Russian Forces Kill 49 Rebels in North Caucasus in Blow to Insurgency, Officials Say. President had urged the use of increasingly aggressive means to subdue the insurgency in the North Caucasus ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the southern city of Sochi, which is at the edge of the turbulent region.
“It’s a matter of honor for the security services and special forces to do everything for these events to happen in a normal, celebratory atmosphere so that nothing darkens these events,” Mr. Putin said at a meeting with military advisers and the chief of Russia’s Federal Security Service. Mr. Turkey Fires Artillery Into Syria in Retaliation for Civilian Deaths.
Kurds to Pursue More Autonomy in a Fallen Syria. When the uprising began nearly 18 months ago, some observers worried that the Kurds could make common cause with Mr.
Assad in exchange for more rights and autonomy. Arab Spring Proves a Harsh Test for Obama’s Diplomatic Skill. Pete Souza/The White House STERN WORDS FOR MUBARAK President Obama phoned President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt on Feb. 1, 2011, as some of his senior staff members worked in the Oval Office.
Chris Hondros/Getty Images IN THE SQUARE In Tahrir Square, the center of Egyptian protests, people watched Mr. Mubarak announce he would not seek office again. A Fragile Iraq Faces New Perils From Syria’s War. At United Nations, Renewed Focus on Syria, if Not New Ideas. Syria will have to share the stage at the weeklong United Nations General Debate with other intractable diplomatic problems, of course.
They include the spread of Al Qaeda across the Western Sahara; the snail’s pace of negotiations over ; global riots prompted by religious intolerance; and sharp new tensions in Asia over competing claims to small, potentially mineral-rich islands. “The deteriorating situation in Syria will be the foremost on our minds,” Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary general, said at a news conference last week outlining the priorities of the main session and some 50 side meetings.
Please Hold for Mr. Putin. Ms.
Gessen was flummoxed: “But how do I know this is not a prank?” Educated Russians would have spotted similarities between this call and earlier Olympian interventions into the lives of writers by Romanov and Communist autocrats, illuminating rituals of Russian leadership and the relationship between power and art. This tradition flatters the writer in a culture where literature has special prestige. But the surprise also promotes the cult of the unpredictable czar who moves, like God, in mysterious ways. Eighty-two years ago, Mikhail Bulgakov, novelist and playwright, had been fired from Soviet theaters, his works banned, when his phone rang: “Comrade Bulgakov? Vladimir Putin Visits With Israeli Leaders. Prime Minister , Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other senior Israeli officials held talks with Mr.
Putin that focused on and other regional issues, according to the prime minister’s office. But there was little hope here that the visit would change Russian policy in the region. Russia was the host of the latest talks between six world powers and Iran this month, which ended without even a commitment to another high-level meeting, and Israeli leaders have argued that the talks merely give Iran more time to develop what they insist is a military nuclear program.
Iran insists its program is peaceful, and Russia has been reluctant to support tougher sanctions against it. Israeli leaders have also called for more international resolve to end the bloodshed in , where President Bashar al-Assad’s military is trying to crush an armed uprising. At a joint news conference after their meeting, Mr. Israel, Mr. Speaking in Russian, Mr. President Shimon Peres then held a state dinner in Mr. Mr. Former Russian Finance Minister Warns of Recession. But the man largely credited with putting Russia in this enviable position, the former minister of finance, Aleksei L.
Kudrin, warned at a news conference on Saturday that Russia was in danger of falling into a recession and that Mr. Putin should delay much of the increased social and military spending that he announced during his recent campaign for the presidency. Mr. Syrian Conflict Takes New Turn for the Worse. NATO Chief Sees Parallels Between Syria and Balkans. In an interview, Mr.
Rasmussen said that alliance members were disappointed by the failure of President ’s government to comply with the peace plan promoted by Kofi Annan, the special envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League. Mr. Let Russia Show the Way on Syria. On Syria, Lavrov is a realist in the Kissinger mold.
He is acting on behalf of a Kremlin whose diplomatic relations are almost completely predicated on advancing Russian power. Russia is deeply concerned about the escalating threat to its influence in Syria — its only major ally in Arab Mediterranean. But Moscow also knows that the writing is on the wall for the Assad regime and that its slow demise will likely precipitate an increasingly deadly civil war that will damage Russian interests.
To avoid this outcome, Russia has decided that the best option is to find a balance between the regime and the opposition that allows Moscow’s influence to endure. The Least Bad Option - By James Traub. Are you okay with where you're at on Syria?
I know that I'm not. A senior State Department official told me that the Obama administration isn't either. Turkey's Best Shot in Syria: Focus on the Kurds. Syrian refugee boys hold up a poster of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad. Around 15,000 registered Syrian refugees now live in tented camps inside Turkey. (photo by REUTERS/Murad Sezer) Author: Radikal (Turkey) Posted September 12, 2013. The Real Reason to Intervene in Syria - By James P. Rubin.
We're not done with the possibility of an Israeli strike on Iran. Given that the current round of negotiations with the world's major powers will not fundamentally change Iran's nuclear program, the question of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities is likely to return to center stage later this year. In addition to hard-headed diplomacy and economic sanctions, there is an important step the United States can take to change Israel's calculations -- helping the people of Syria in their battle against President Bashar al-Assad's regime. Iran's nuclear program and Syria's civil war may seem unconnected, but in fact they are inextricably linked. "The Intervention Dilemma" by Joseph S. Nye. Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space CAMBRIDGE – When should states intervene militarily to stop atrocities in other countries?
The question is an old and well-traveled one. Indeed, it is now visiting Syria. In 1904, US President Theodore Roosevelt argued that, “there are occasional crimes committed on so vast a scale and of such peculiar horror” that we should intervene by force of arms. Syrian Alawites Divided by Assad’s Response to Unrest. But Mr. Abboud and most of his community are Alawites, the same religious sect as the president. When the popular uprising broke out, many believed that if the Assad family fell, they were doomed. They closed ranks and turned on Mr. Abboud, boycotting his pastry shop and ultimately forcing him to leave town. “The neighborhood is split — half are dejected and subservient, the rest are beasts,” he said in a telephone interview from nearby Latakia. As the Syrian conflict escalates to new levels of sectarian strife, Mr.
A New Shield Over Europe. Syrian Conflict Escalates With Reports of New Massacre. Youssef Badawi/European Pressphoto Agency A hotel employee raised the Syrian national flag in Damascus on Thursday. You Say Defense, We See Threat. Even if we leave these important but somewhat technical issues aside, major conceptual problems still have not been adequately resolved. Syrian intervention risks upsetting global order. To prevent a repetition of this carnage, the Treaty of Westphalia separated international from domestic politics.
States, built on national and cultural units, were deemed sovereign within their borders; international politics was confined to their interaction across established boundaries. Houla massacre evokes memories of Srebrenica. Brutal killing of at least 108 in Houla marked new low in Syrian uprising. Kofi Annan Meets With Bashar al-Assad. U.S. Seeks Russia’s Help in Removing Assad in Syria. Pool photo by Mikhail Klimentyev President Obama, with Prime Minister Dmitri A. Pressure Grows on Syria as Annan Arrives After Houla Attack. Mr.