... relations with all regional players – be it Saudi Arabia or Iran, Israel or Iran, Egypt or Turkey, Shiites or Sunnis. A successful Syrian military campaign allowed Moscow to gain a foothold in the region and became a catalyst for the advancement of Russian interests in Syria and beyond – throughout the Middle East/West Asia.
Before turning to the Russian interests, it is worth evaluating the fundamental changes that Moscow has made to the regional order. Russian actions in the Middle East aimed at showing the need to maintain a multilateral approach ...
... experts, representatives of scientific and analytical centers of the Middle East region, such as the Institute for Iran-Eurasia Studies (IRAS, Iran), the Center for Strategic Research (SAM) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, Middle East Technical University (Turkey), American University of Beirut (Lebanon), Damascus Center for Research and Studies (Syria), Al-Rafidain Center For Dialogue (Iraq), Al-Quds University (Palestine), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for West Asia, and other. The Russian side was represented by experts from RIAC, RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, MGIMO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign ...
... rigid frameworks of close, allied relations with individual regional forces. Moscow is therefore now better suited to play the role of ‘honest broker’ in the region than Washington.
RIAC Report “Squaring the Circle: Russian and European Views on Syrian Reconstruction”
Having said this, in terms of actual engagement in Middle Eastern affairs, Russia’s comparative advantage remains tenuous. This is especially evident in Syria, where the preservation of the numerous ‘intra-Syrian’ equilibria has become increasingly difficult. Moreover, with the military defeat of ISIS, a common enemy has ...
... states that posed a threat to the aforementioned U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean. In forming its Middle Eastern policy, the United States was historically led by a strong pro-Israeli lobby. After Israel signed peace treaties ... ... and the US-allied Gulf Cooperation Council came into being on May 25, 1981, the United States came to perceive Iran, Iraq and Syria as the key threats in this sense.
Russia and the Arab Mashreq: The Post-Conflict Period in Syria
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RIAC Working Paper No. 51/2019
RIAC Working Paper No. 51/2019
The working paper considers Russia’s geostrategic interests in the Middle East and the concept of Russia’s
return to the world stage as a great power. The paper analyses Russia’s regional interests, including the
development of trade ties, attracting investment, gaining access to the arms market and influencing oil ...
Iran in the Middle East: Regional Spoiler or Stakeholder?
Iran’s critical role in shaping the security agenda of the Middle East is indisputable. No matter what we discuss — the Syrian settlement, state-building in Iraq, civil war in Yemen or political dynamics in Lebanon —, Iran remains the big elephant ... ... is that Iran is more part of the problem than it is part of the solution. Of course, Iran’s friends and partners, including Russia, argue the opposite. All these disagreements notwithstanding, the broad international consensus is that it is impossible ...
... detrimental to early supporters because it led to an increase in foreign boots on the ground: the 2015 JCPOA agreement allowed Russia to increase presence in Syria and send forces to Khmeimim, and Western presence increased in the campaign to terminate ISIS.
How to prevent the next phase ... ... know how they are still adamant that they have to do something.
Andrey Kortunov, Malcolm Chalmers:
Upholding Stability in the Middle East: An Opportunity for Russia–Europe Cooperation?
Dr. Kepel believes there is an opportunity for us to work on the ...
... the discussion is the comparative analysis of the vision of the great powers on the Middle East general development dynamics, on the most significant challenges and threats emanating from the region, on possible mechanisms and sequence of solutions to Middle Eastern issues.
This meeting is devoted to the latest events in Syria and Yemen, the possibilities of preventing escalation, and the optimal formats for multilateral dialog in these crisis situations. The Russian side is represented by Alexander Aksenyonok, RIAC Vice-President, Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, and RIAC experts Irina Zvyagelskaya and Elena Suponina.
... alliance in which one of these countries would accept a role as second in command. For this reason, US plans to establish some form of NATO in the Middle East are doomed to failure. Eventually I don’t see any streamlined collective security system in the Middle East.
The main goal today is to end the conflict in Syria and embark on economic recovery there. Russia will not be able to do this single-handedly but from the viewpoint of the future this is very important. Syria has always been at the crossroads of trade in the Middle East. Now it is necessary for everything there to stabilize. Judging by conversations ...
... powers, especially in relation to the provision of military support, has often intensified the destructiveness of conflicts in the region, allowing them to continue long after the resources of the warring parties would otherwise have been depleted (Syria is a case study of this). Whatever the temptations of seeing the Middle East as an arena through which to score points against each other in a global struggle, the reality is that Europe, Russia, the US and China all have a common interest in preventing further destructive wars in the region, with their negative consequences (terrorism, economic disruption, migration) for them all.
Second, to underpin this cooperation, the major external ...
