Simon Tisdall
Guest Author
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/ 23 April 2007

Russia: give us Berezovsky

Relations between London and Moscow threatened to plummet to a post-Cold War low on Thursday amid renewed Russian demands for action against Boris Berezovsky over the tycoon’s claim that he is plotting to overthrow Vladimir Putin. he Russian ambassador to the United Kingdom warned that bilateral relations would inevitably suffer if prompt action was not taken against the Britain-based multi-millionaire.

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/ 5 April 2007

The great game in the Gulf

As Iran sees it, provocative British trespassing in the Shatt al-Arab waterway is one element in an American-driven policy of destabilisation that includes systematic infringements of the country’s territorial, economic and political sovereignty. As the United States and Israel see it, Iran’s unjustified actions are proof that the Tehran regime is dangerous beyond reason.

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/ 3 April 2007

Confident Turkey looks east

Turkey was not invited to Europe’s big birthday bash despite being an official candidate for EU membership. Ankara expressed disappointment at a ”missed opportunity”. Media reaction to the perceived snub was sharper. ”In the 1990s, the EU was a giant organisation governed by prominent leaders,” said leading columnist Mehmet Ali Birand.”

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/ 19 February 2007

Al-Qaeda’s new front in Africa

A wave of lethal bomb attacks on police stations and other targets in Algeria recently has underscored concerns that al-Qaeda and like-minded Islamist groups are rapidly gaining strength in north Africa. While the terrorists’ immediate fight is with the pro-United States governments of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, their longer-term target is Western interests in the Maghreb.

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/ 16 February 2007

Squeeze on mullahs’ money pays off

Iran’s recent offer to resume nuclear negotiations, coupled with new flexibility over how and where future uranium enrichment trials may be conducted, represents the first clear evidence that domestic and international pressure on Tehran’s hardliners is beginning to bear fruit.

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/ 12 February 2007

Merkel in search of German miracle

Tony Blair may hang on as Britain’s prime minister for a few more months but as an international leader he is already history. When Russia’s Vladimir Putin talks European energy security or Kosovo these days, he talks to Germany, leader of the European Union and the G8.

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/ 9 February 2007

US moves in on Africa

This week’s United States decision to create a new Pentagon command covering Africa, known as Africom, has a certain unlovely military logic. Like Roman emperors of old, Washington’s Caesars arbitrarily divide much of the world into Middle Eastern, European and Pacific domains. Now it is Africa’s turn.