Russia’s Middle Eastern policy. Regional ambitions, global objectives. OSW Studies 71 December 2017

Summary. Russia’s policy in the Middle East is part of a wider strategy aimed at creating an international order which would shield Russia against Western interference in its internal affairs and would guarantee it an equal footing with the United States. In practice, that means that Russia’s Middle Eastern policy is subordinated to the Kremlin’s global strategy towards Washington. In the Middle East, Moscow seeks to create a regional variant of what it believes to be the best model of the international order, i.e. a concert of powers that would include, apart from Russia, also the regional powers of Turkey and Iran, as well as the United States; provided the latter shows a willingness to co-operate with Russia on an equal footing and give up its ‘hegemonic habits’. The Kremlin’s striving to restore Russia’s great power position in the Middle East has also served to legitimise Putin’s regime in the eyes of both the Russian elite and Russian population at large.