What Is the Role of Russia in the Middle East Today?

{
  "authors": [
    "Alexey Malashenko"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
    "Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [
    "Eurasia in Transition"
  ],
  "regions": [
    "Egypt",
    "Gulf",
    "Levant",
    "Maghreb"
  ],
  "topics": []
}

In The Media

Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center

What Is the Role of Russia in the Middle East Today?

Russia plays an extremely important role as mediator in the current Libyan conflict. If Moscow can succeed in this role, there would be a clear positive benefit to Libya and its neighbors.

By Alexey Malashenko

Published on Jun 14, 2011

Source: RIA Novosti's Russian Angle

While NATO countries are increasingly involved in fighting against authoritarian leaders in the Middle East and North Africa, Russia is moving closer to the role of the middleman. How Russia reacts to an expected UN referendum condemning Syria for violence against protestors may play a significant part in determining Russia's future role in the region.

Speaking on RIA Novosti, Carnegie Moscow's Alexey Malashenko notes that Russia plays an extremely important role as mediator in the current Libyan conflict. If Russia can succeed in this role, there would be a clear positive benefit to Libya and its neighbors. Turning to the increasing violence in other parts of the region, Malashenko argued that a Libya-style involvement by the West in Syria would be a “big mistake,” as it could destabilize the region in unpredictable ways, and that a revolution in Yemen could lead to Islamic radicalization in neighboring states, including as Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea.

About the Author

Alexey Malashenko

Former Scholar in Residence, Religion, Society, and Security Program

Malashenko is a former chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Religion, Society, and Security Program.

Recent Work

Commentary
What Will Uzbekistan’s New President Do?
- Alexey Malashenko
Commentary
Preserving the Calm in Russia’s Muslim Community
- Alexey Malashenko

Egypt Gulf Levant Maghreb

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie India

Commentary
Under Modi, India Has Shed its Traditional Defensiveness Towards the Middle East
It has been a rather long learning curve for New Delhi to separate presumed transcendental religious solidarity and the logic of national self-interest in engaging the Middle East.
C. Raja Mohan
Commentary
Raja Mandala: Nationalism Comes to Saudi Arabia
As New Delhi prepares to host the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, India must come to terms with an unfamiliar idea—“nationalism in Arabia”.
C. Raja Mohan
Commentary
India’s Solidarity with Prince Salman’s Reform Agenda Back Home Is Important
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to India—as part of a larger tour of Asia, including Pakistan and China—should mark the consolidation of two important trends and help initiate a significant third.
C. Raja Mohan
Commentary
Raja Mandala: Secularism Comes to Arabia?
For both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the new emphasis on separating religion from politics and confronting “political Islam” is not a question of defining an abstract theory of the state. It is a considered response to the grave challenges they face.
C. Raja Mohan
Commentary
Raja Mandala: The Great Sunni Divide
The outrageous murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul has brought into sharp relief the deepening conflict between Riyadh and Ankara.
C. Raja Mohan

More Work from Carnegie India

Commentary

Under Modi, India Has Shed its Traditional Defensiveness Towards the Middle East

It has been a rather long learning curve for New Delhi to separate presumed transcendental religious solidarity and the logic of national self-interest in engaging the Middle East.

C. Raja Mohan

Commentary

Raja Mandala: Nationalism Comes to Saudi Arabia

As New Delhi prepares to host the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, India must come to terms with an unfamiliar idea—“nationalism in Arabia”.

C. Raja Mohan

Commentary

India’s Solidarity with Prince Salman’s Reform Agenda Back Home Is Important

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to India—as part of a larger tour of Asia, including Pakistan and China—should mark the consolidation of two important trends and help initiate a significant third.

C. Raja Mohan

Commentary

Raja Mandala: Secularism Comes to Arabia?

For both the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, the new emphasis on separating religion from politics and confronting “political Islam” is not a question of defining an abstract theory of the state. It is a considered response to the grave challenges they face.

C. Raja Mohan

Commentary

Raja Mandala: The Great Sunni Divide

The outrageous murder of the Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul has brought into sharp relief the deepening conflict between Riyadh and Ankara.

C. Raja Mohan