... circumstances, political and economic trends in the Middle East require a degree of theoretical conceptualization. The authors of this report analyze the current political and economic trends in the region’s Arab countries and non-Arab states, including Iran, Turkey, and Israel. Additionally, the authors examine key foreign policy trends in Middle Eastern states.
Regional Trends in the Middle East: Political and Economic Dynamics
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... when you least expect it.
For a long time, the main goal in the US Middle East strategy was to neutralize the role of Iran as the joker. One after another, US presidents have tried to convince the international community that the main problem in the Middle East was not even the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but rather Tehran’s “regional hegemonism.”
Various ways of solving the “Iranian problem” were proposed, including the creation of the broadest possible anti-Iranian coalitions, increased economic and diplomatic pressure on Tehran, as well as tough confrontation with Shiite groups in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen, and elsewhere ...
... although the Kremlin remains interested in a Syrian-Turkish rapprochement and Syria rejoining the League of Arab States. [
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]
The crisis in Eastern Europe has been less significant for the region than many other events happening simultaneously inside the Middle East, such as expanding the Abraham Accords, Israel’s deep political crisis, or the China-brokered Saudi-Iranian rapprochement. However, the crisis in Eastern Europe did have an impact on the food security of the MENA region and it also affected negotiations on oil exports within the OPEC+ format. Still, it would be an exaggeration to argue that since the ...
... resistance against Zionism and American imperialism in the region.
The barbaric military operation of Israel in Gaza, which led to the death of more than 9000 Palestinian civilians, more than half of them children, could shortly lead to an all-out war in the Middle East between Israel on the one hand and Iran and its militia in Iraq and Syria and its Hezbollah proxy on the other. Of course, the Iranian elites could only strive to avoid being entrapped in a full confrontation with Israel. This could lead to considerable disaster in human and financial ...
... the Middle East
‘but also how it thinks about its strategic, diplomatic and security priorities in the region.’
This would be especially useful to Israel, enabling it to expand the foundations of its understanding with China on the merits of an Israel-led, ‘Iran-free’ Middle East from just BRI to other areas such as terrorism and arms control.
Moreover, China’s historical voting pattern at the UN against Israel for its violations of international law, especially with regard to the situation in Palestine, will not ...
... and prosperity (at a time when populism is rocketing in the West), thus threatening the whole world order. The tension between the ruling elites and citizens will reshape regional political geography.
With conflicting principles of superpowers, the Middle East will undergo a high risk of conflict in spheres of influence between Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Turkey and other rising regional powers which seek to play a pivotal role in local and global affairs, attempting to shape the multipolar world.
The persistence of conflicts and the absence of real effective political and economic reforms will ...
... 2003 and during the war in Syria since 2011, consistently increased its military-strategic positions and political influence along Baghdad — Damascus — Beirut vector.
Andrey Kortunov, Michel Duclos:
Helping Iran to Make the Right Choice
The anti-Iranian Middle East policy of Trump’s Administration has strengthened Israel's determination to defend its interests by force. A certain division of roles between the two countries has been observed. Israel exerts constant military pressure on Iran with airstrikes at its facilities in Syria, the United States increasing ...
... the willing” from regional actors interested in reaching a ceasefire in Syria.
Trying to forge an alliance of regional actors, Moscow counted on the major comparative advantage that distinguished Russia from other main out of area powers involved in Middle East crises — it enjoyed good relations with practically all local players — Sunnis and Shias, Iran and Arab states of the Gulf, Israelis and Palestinians, Turks and Kurds, and so on. The Russian regional activism was also inadvertently encouraged by the US Trump Administration that could not decide on its approach to either Syria or to the regional at large. The launch of the ...
Working paper 42/2018
The Working paper was prepared by the Russian International Affairs Council as part of the project "Security System in the Middle East". This paper covers the issue of complex relations between Russia and Israel in the Middle East. The author analyzes in detail Russia’s role in the Israel-Syria-Iran triangle.
The degree of Iranian presence in Syria, the impact of the nuclear deal in the context of Israeli-Iranian regional confrontation, the role of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement in Russian-Israeli relations are also discussed in the paper....
... guarantee for Tel Aviv, the topic hampers the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in the region [
15
]. The possibility of nuclear proliferation is linked to the threats perceived by other Middle Eastern states. It was in response to U.S. dominance in the Middle East and Washington’s invasion of Iraq, as well as to Israel’s refusal to as much as discuss its nuclear capability, that Iran launched its own nuclear program. Saudi Arabia followed suit, arguing that Iran’s nuclear efforts were a threat to the state. Given the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East and the ambiguity over the U.S. security guarantees for ...
