... nor enough self-restraint for this. In Syria, Russia and the United States found themselves on the brink of open conflict and a new round in the war of sanctions. In this sense 2016 also cleared the air. The West has to take Russia into account in the Middle East, but will not become its strategic ally or even a partner in the foreseeable future. The West will maintain ties with Russia wherever it cannot do without them. It will make episodic attempts to isolate Moscow in other areas. The past year ...
The dismantling of state and governance systems in certain Arab countries has resulted in the fact that such non-Arab nations, as Iran, Turkey and Israel, are becoming the new center of power in the Middle East, said professor Vitaly Naumkin.
According to him, the current trend risks turning into a catastrophe for the entire Middle East region.
"The dismantling of state and governance systems in the Middle East began in the beginning of the ...
... deeper involved in fighting in Syria. What should the Trump Administration do to help resolving this protracted conflict?
Jiri Valenta:
Rather than fight Russia and Assad, Trump should, and likely will, recognize that his most immediate task in the Middle East is to seek great power collaboration in ending the “geopolitical Chernobyl” that is the Syrian civil war (to use General David Petraeus’s words). The war is an Islamist hotbed radiating across the Middle East and attracting ...
... Russian Federation, Andrey Kortunov, Director General, RIAC, Irina Zvyagelskaya and Alexander Shumilin, RIAC experts, and German Embassy to Russia employees took part in the meeting.
The following issues were discussed: situation in Syria and in the Middle East, possible resolutions of the Syrian conflict, perspective areas for Russia-West regional partnership, probable role of the USA in the Middle East, Donald Trump joining the office.
... debate.
Russia was represented at the Debate by
Ruslan Mamedov
,
Program Assistant
, and RIAC experts:
Elena Suponina
, Adviser to the director of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies,
Alexander Shumilin
, Head of the Centre for Analysis of Middle East Conflicts at RAS Institute for US and Canadian Studies, Andrey Bystritsky, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, and Anna Starkova, Adviser to the Executive Director of the Foundation....
What decisions can we expect from Donald Trump’s new team on the Middle East? The further aggravation of the situation in Syria, the U.S. policy with respect to its allies as well as the problem of the Iranian nuclear programme all remain highly topical issues on the Middle East agenda. Vasily Kuznetsov, RIAC expert ...
... momentum, there is little doubt that the fate of radical Islamists in Syria and Iraq is sealed. This makes the issue of the two countries’ postwar state structure particularly important. Who will take responsibility for the future of the two key Middle Eastern nations? How will they do so?
In early October 2016 Russia once again
vetoed
the French-drafted resolution on Syria co-sponsored by Spain calling for an end to all military flights over Aleppo. At the same time the Russian draft resolution ...
...
REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Igor Ivanov:
Russia and the United States Have to Get Back
to Constructive Dialogue
Against the backdrop of George W. Bush’s failed offensive strategy, the “regime change” policy and forced democratization in the Middle East and in other regions of the world in 2008, Democratic candidate Barack Obama at that time called for establishing cooperation with other power centres (such as China and Russia) and rejecting interventionism and excessive reliance on military ...
A brief overview of the main groups and their leaders
A brief overview of the main groups and their leaders.
The authors described extremist organisations on multiple parameters, such as history, social base and numbers, activity region, leaders, ideology, financing, enemies and allies, stance on the Syrian ceasefire.
Project page:
http://russiancouncil.ru/en/syria-extremism
... Russia has recently signed a
memorandum of understanding
on LNG with Bahrain, which is Saudi Arabia's closest neighbour. According to earlier reports, Russia and Bahrain were looking into the possibility of building an LNG receiving terminal in that Middle Eastern country. If constructed, the facility could be used for exporting LNG not just to Bahrain but also to neighbouring countries. Saudi Arabia's geographical proximity to Bahrain, as well as the
established energy ties
between the two states,...
