RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE MIDDLE EAST

RUSSIAN FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE MIDDLE EAST

Alkhajal Mohammed Mannaa Manea

Master’s student, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B. N. Yeltsin, international relations,

Russia, Yekaterinburg

ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades, Russian foreign policy has given a markedly increasing interest to the Middle East compared to what it was in the 90s and before, where the beginning of the 21st century carried a set of new changes that marked the beginning of a new stage after the arrival of the President "Vladimir Putin" to the government. This interest stems from several considerations, including the response to the geopolitical position, which imposes interest in the regional and global considerations as sources of threat to national security, and to establish economic relations that are beneficial to the national interest, or as a field of regional and international movement and influence.

Keywords: Russia, Russian Foreign Policy, Middle East, national interest, national security.

Middle East is back on Moscow’s radar screen again. Russia has restored political ties with lots of its former allies, which include Syria and Egypt, and Turkey is back to its camp, engaged in a cautious dialog with Israel, maintained a cooperative however complicated relationship with Iran and promoted trade with energy-rich nations such as Algeria and the Gulf States. This return has been accompanied by the increasing Russian desire to move towards areas that serve its interests and help on securing a better position in the international system. Thus, it opened a new avenue to strengthen its influence and serve its interests. Therefore, Russian foreign policy has given increasing interest to what is happening in Syria, as Syria represents the most important country in the Middle East for Russia and is considered strategically important at the international level since the location of Syria overlooking the Mediterranean Sea, Israel, Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan, and Iraq is of great importance to the Russian influence in the Middle East[1].

After the emergence of new international powers in Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as the traditional European powers such as Germany, and in the midst of this global sphere, the Middle East emerged as an area of ​​international competition between regional and international powers due to the region's oil wealth and strategic position.

Russian strategy in the region is based on several considerations, including:

— Russia seeks to achieve security for its southern borders, and this is due to the failure of Russia and CIS countries to find organizations or institutions capable of protecting these countries, settling border disputes, and pacifying separatist movements, especially Islamic movements. History has proven that the conflict may reach the phenomenon of regional expansion if there is a common factor between those countries. Russia follows a preventive policy in the face of Islamic and separatist movements through the expansion of its relations with the countries of the region. Therefore, Russia seeks to create a stable regional order near its borders.

— Russia seeks to create a multipolar world order to stand in front of a unipolar system led by the United States, and this explains what Russia is doing to establish relations with anti-American countries in the region such as Iraq, Iran and Syria [2].

The general objectives of the Russian strategy during the era of President Putin can be summed up as follows:

— Strengthening Russian capabilities, maintaining Russian national security and the territorial integrity of Russia: the fear of conflict with its neighbors because of the borders, imposed on Russia to find the necessary means to impose deterrence and control by focusing on the role of nuclear weapons and improving the combat capabilities of the Russian army in order to protect national security in addition to preventing the establishment of military bases in CIS countries because this represents a direct threat to national security. Therefore, Russia cooperated and participated in the establishment of the Shanghai Organization to remove the US military presence in some Central Asian republics.

— Securing the right conditions for economic development: after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation suffered from economic crises and faced many dilemmas and a state of deterioration in the economy, and to get out of this situation, Russia adopted steps based on establishing close relations with countries, through which it aimed [3]:

• Attracting investments and obtaining economic assistance.
• Revitalization of Russia's economic and trade relations.
• Revitalizing the arms trade and exports.

— The necessity of establishing a multipolar international system:

In its foreign policy, Russia has followed the policy of pragmatism in its foreign relations. It has also rejected the unipolar system, which is led by the United States of America. Russia has also emphasized the transformation into a multipolar and multi-interest international system.

— Counter terrorism: the main goal that made the fight against terrorism one of the goals of Russian foreign policy stems primarily from security and political interests. Russia’s feeling of anxiety and tension on its southern borders in the Caucasus and Central Asian countries would lead to terrorist acts, prompting Russia to strengthen the war on terrorism [4].

The means of the Russian strategy can be identified in three goals:

— Russia has employed the diplomatic means to manage its relations with the countries of the Middle East, considering the successive events taking place in the region. The visits, whether from the Russian side or one of the officials of the region's countries, continued to Moscow. This is due to the increased confidence of the peoples of the region in Russian diplomacy that adheres to the rules of international law [5].

Russian diplomacy has been active in many issues in the region. At the level of the Iranian nuclear file, it’s clear that Russian diplomacy has dealt with the crisis and set its limits. the first of them: not supporting the military dealing with the crisis in any way. And second: not supporting the imposition of comprehensive economic sanctions against Iran, as they might affect Russia's economic interests with it. Likewise, not to impose a comprehensive ban on the Iranian nuclear program [6].

As we mentioned earlier, Russia has rejected any direct or indirect external interference in the crisis and has used its veto within the Security Council four times to prevent that.

— Economic means are one of the most prominent means of achieving foreign policy goals, and the importance of these means has declined as a result of the spread of globalization. Russia has employed this means to achieve its economic goals, including achieving economic interests as a guarantee of strategic resources, increasing investments and obtaining new markets. Since the Middle East region represents an important market with great absorbing power for Russian exports of strategic commodities, Russia has therefore been interested in developing its economic and trade relations with various countries in the region.

— When it comes to international events related to national security requirements, here military means can be used to achieve foreign policy goals, but they cannot be used in absolute terms, but within narrow limits when other means fail to achieve the goals. It is used within narrow limits because it has dire consequences that outweigh the gains that can be achieved, especially considering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Rather, it is used in the form of providing military aid and arms sales, through which a political and economic strategy can be achieved.

References:

1. Muhammad Al-Sayed Salim, Major Shifts in Russian Foreign Policy, Al-Ahram Foundation, No. 170, October 17, 2007, Volume 42, p. 40.
2. Kadidzha Laribey, “Russian foreign policy towards the Middle East region after the events of September 11, 2001 ″, Master’s letter, (Muhammad Khaydr University - Biskra, Faculty of Law and Political Science ، 2014), p. 115  — [Electronic source] — http://thesis.univ-biskra.dz/1294/ (date of access 7.07.2022)
3. Norhan Al-Shaiykh, “Decision-making in Russia and Arab-Russian Relations”, (Center for Arab Unity Studies, 1998), pp. 10, 11 — [Electronic source]. — https://books4arabs.com/B5/books4arab.com_0731.pdf (date of access 14.07.2022).
4. Ez Aldeen Abdullah “Russian Strategy Towards the Middle East 2000-2008”, 2012, p. 98 — [Electronic source].  https://books4arabs.com/B5/books4arab.com_0731.pdf (date of access 18.07.2022)
5. Kadidzha Laribey, “Russian foreign policy towards the Middle East region after the events of September 11, 2001 ″, Master’s letter, (Muhammad Khaydr University - Biskra, Faculty of Law and Political Science ، 2014), p. 120 — [Electronic source] — URL: http://thesis.univ-biskra.dz/1294/ (date of access 05.08.2022)
6. Ashraf Abdel Aziz, “Evaluating Russian policy in the Syrian crisis”, Regional Center for Strategic Studies, 2014, p. 3-4.