Abstract
Russian foreign policy in the Middle East has been a challenge not only to the regional world order but also to a geostrategic modus operandi in the region. This involvement challenges the regional order and the balance of power/interests in a way that introduces new input into the regional security equation. The domestic factor of Russian involvement is a crucial factor in explaining Russian international behaviour. It provides an organization, an operational and cognitive link to the need of its leadership to justify choices, terms of engagement and rivals. This chapter looks into the objectives of Russian policy, its aim to transatlantic partnership, choices in forming alliances and its effort to domestically legitimize its involvement.
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Notes
- 1.
“Putin courts investments in trip to Saudi Arabia”, DW, 14-10-2019, https://www.dw.com/en/putin-courts-investments-in-trip-to-saudi-arabia/a-50819277. Also, “Saudi Arabia warms to Russia’s embrace”, BBC, 16-10-2019, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-50054546.
- 2.
This applies, inter alia, to arms sales. As noted, ‘fifty percent of Russian arms sales go to the Middle East, up from 36 percent in 2015’. See Christine Wormuth, ‘Russia and China in the Middle East, implications for the United States in an era of Strategic Competition’, CT-511 Testimony presented before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Middle East, North Africa and International Terrorism on May 9, 2019, Rand, 2019.
- 3.
‘Russia’s Putin signs deals worth $1.3bn during UAE visit’, 16-10-2019, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/russia-putin-signs-deals-worth-13bn-uae-visit-191015194158423.html.
- 4.
On Russia’s overall strategic campaign in the Middle East see Steven Blank, ‘The Russians Build Out Their Naval Bases in the Middle East’, SLDinfo, 28/12/2017, https://sldinfo.com/2017/12/the-russians-build-out-their-naval-bases-in-the-middle-east/.
- 5.
On Russia’s involvement in Libya see ‘Russia’s Mediation Goals in Libya’, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington D. C.,18-4-2019, https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/78940.
- 6.
“Asia and the Middle East lead rise in arms imports; the United States and Russia remain largest arms exporters”, SIPRI, 22-2-2016, https://www.sipri.org/media/press-release/2016/asia-and-middle-east-lead-rise-arms-imports-united-states-and-russia-remain-largest-arms-exporters.
- 7.
Rauf Mammadov, ‘Russia in the Middle East: Energy Forever?’ The Jamestown Foundation, 8-3-2018, https://jamestown.org/program/russia-middle-east-energy-forever/.
- 8.
As underpinned, ‘Russia is also using Syria as testing ground for its electronic warfare capabilities’. In April 2018, the US Special Operations Command chief commented, ‘Right now in Syria we are operating in the most aggressive EW [electronic warfare] environment on the planet’. Our adversaries, he added, ‘are testing us every day, knocking our communications down, disabling our EC-130s, et cetera’. See ‘Russia’s Eastern Mediterranean strategy explained’, The Jerusalem Post, 26-9-2019, https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Russias-Eastern-Mediterranean-strategy-explained-603013.
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Blank, S. (2021). Russia’s Challenges to International Security and the Western Response: Moscow’s Objectives in the Middle East. In: Voskopoulos, G. (eds) European Union Security and Defence. Contributions to Political Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48893-2_10
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