... conflict escalated dramatically in early October 2023, many observers jumped to a grim conclusion that, from then onward, the Middle East was hurtling at an ever-increasing speed toward another major regional conflict. The military operation of the Israel ... ... leadership, not without reason, draws parallels between Palestinian radicals and the Muslim Brotherhood movement (banned in Russia) at home, which has been driven deep underground, but was, alongside Israel, among the founding fathers of Hamas. Damascus ...
... terrorism and prevent Syria from becoming a failed state, not to defend Syria from external threats which cannot topple the government.
Igor Subbotin:
Special Forces at the Ready: How the War in Gaza Brought the U.S. Back to the Middle East
Second, Russia is on good terms with every Middle Eastern country and many non-state actors, especially the three countries crucial to resolving the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Trust is a valuable resource to would-be mediators, and once lost, is difficult to replace.
Although Russian–Iranian relations are marked by historical grievances, from the Russian Empire carving up Persia and vying for spheres ...
June 28, 2021, 15:00 GMT+3
On June 28, 2021, Russian International Affairs Council and the Middle East Directions Programme at the European University Institute (EUI) will hold a webinar meeting “A Gradual Approach Towards a New Security System in the Persian Gulf”. Andrey Kortunov, Director General, Russian International Affairs Council ...
... country from any foreign interference.
Bahrain
As for Bahrain which is almost connected in its domestic and foreign policies with Saudi Arabia, it is slated that Manama will proceed further with the current trend of policies which would affect its relations ... ... whom Bahrain would accuse of tampering with its security and stability.
Other Key Players
Irina Zviagelskaya, Nikolay Surkov:
Russian Policy in the Middle East: Dividends and Costs of the Big Game
Israel
Some important geopolitical trends in the region will be marked by March ...
...
According to a press statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, on August 21, 2017, Russia’s Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov received the newly appointed Ambassador of the Yemen Arab Republic to Moscow Ahmed Salem ... ... Al-Wahishi was intended to represent. On July 13, 2017, President of Yemen Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, acting largely with the backing of Saudi Arabia,
appointed
him ambassador to Moscow. The new ambassador is
believed
to be a compromise between Mansur Hadi and ...
RIAC Policy Brief No. 14
The events in Yemen has long remained in the shadow of the numerous crises in other Middle Eastern countries. Nevertheless, the Yemen crisis carries threats that have already started to affect its neighbours in ... ... urgent measures are not taken to resolve the political crisis in the country, the situation could present greater challenges.
Russia has been consistent in calling on global and regional forces to work together in trying to resolve the region’s problems....
On October 5, 2017, along with the historical visit of the King of Saudi Arabia to Moscow, several events were held to focus on the current state of relations and prospects for development of relations ... ... development of relations between Moscow and Riyadh.
The first half of the day was marked by the closed seminar organized by Russian International Affairs Council and King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies (Saudi Arabia). The event focused ...
. The meeting was devoted to Russia-Saudi Arabia humanitarian cooperation in crisis situations in the Middle East, as well as countries' participation in multilateral humanitarian missions
On April 18, Aleksandr Aksenenok, RIAC member, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipoteniary, and Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, participated in the meeting ...
... and domestic audiences.
This does not mean that Russia's work with Iran precludes cooperation with Saudi Arabia. Even so, with investment programmes shrinking in all the oil exporting countries and with the existing strategic contradictions between Saudi Arabia and Russia, Moscow will find working with the two Middle Eastern countries at once to be an extremely difficult balancing act.
The oil-and-gas cooperation plans recently announced by Russia and Saudi Arabia may sound like part of a rapprochement trend. Yet one should not expect too much from this rhetoric....
... judging by his campaign speeches, he clearly sees the threats coming to America from the Middle East, yet he is far from having expensive ambitions.
A pragmatic billionaire... ... “America first” slogan, is less tied to the US’ traditional allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, protecting and supporting whom has become a burden for the US tax payers... ... Ivanov:
U.S. Diplomacy in the Shackles of Election
Politics
Trump is not concerned about Russia’s military presence in Syria as he thinks that the Russian air force does...
