July, 2001

A New Role for Federal Russia in the Middle East

Nabya Asfahany

Since Vladimir Putin assumed power in Russia, the Middle East has been witnessing increasing Russian diplomatic activity, reminiscent of the old competition between the two superpowers before the end of the Cold War. Russia's presence in the Middle East goes back to the mid-1950s when the Middle East represented an area of strategic significance for the Soviet empire. Soviet policy in the Middle East used to rely on doctrinal grounds and, consequently, Soviet governments were keen to establish ties of friendship with the countries of the Middle East that were still looking forward to independence and which were involved at the same time in conflict with Israel.

The Soviet Union endeavoured to conclude commercial transactions with flexible conditions and spared no effort to meet the needs of these countries, including weapons and military equipment. The Soviet Union became the chief source of weapons for a number of countries in the Middle East, primarily Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Libya and Algeria. Maintaining the balance between the two blocs urged the Soviets to sustain the development of their military and nuclear industries in order to be able to preserve a pioneering position in the arms race.

With the collapse of the Soviet empire at the outset of the 1990s, Russian policy in the region no longer depended on doctrine. Russia was more eager to promote cooperation with the West, a matter that led to a relative setback in Russian-Middle Eastern cooperation under Boris Yeltsin's leadership. In addition, the policy of privatisation adopted in Russia's military sector dispersed attention devoted to the Middle East region.

Policies in the Middle East also changed when the countries in the region shifted to Europe and the United States to obtain arms. In light of these changes, the priorities of Russian policy in the Middle East were altered. Chief among the changes was increased Russian cooperation with Israel, which can be attributed to the increasing number of Soviet immigrants to Israel and the increase in the number of Jews in Russia, who gained a wide range of authority in the media.

With Putin as president, Russia's policy in the Middle East became more balanced. It depends more on the modernising of old equipment and providing major Middle Eastern countries with weapons. Other developments include a reduction in the volume of Russian military and technical cooperation with past allies in contrast to increasing cooperation with Iran, Israel, UAE, Kuwait and Yemen.

Federal Russia is still seeking a vital political role in the Middle East and thus Putin's government has always shown eagerness to promote ties. Russia's new balanced approach in the region was manifested in the attention it paid to the Iraqi situation after the Gulf War as well as in the willingness it has shown in efforts to attain a peaceful settlement for the Arab-Israeli conflict. Importantly, however, Russian officials now perceive that defending the national interests of their country should not imply confrontation with the sole superpower, namely the United States.