Russia and the Middle East : Towards a New Foreign Policy

by Nizameddin, Talal

• ISBN13: 9780312225384
• ISBN10: 0312225385
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-02-05
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The end of the Soviet Union precipitated a reassessment of Russia's foreign policy in many parts of the world, none more so than in the Middle East. Talal Nizameddin's book looks at how a once cherished commitment to ideological goals and superpower rivalry with the United States was replaced, after 1991, with a pragmatic foreign policy based on national interest, epitomized by the appointment of Yevgeni Primakov--an expert on Iraq--as foreign minister. Nizameddin examines Gorbachev's "new thinking," the foreign policy debates under President Yeltsin, the waning of Russian influence over the Palestinians and its consequent exclusion from the secret Oslo accords. Case studies of Russia's relations with Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Turkey, and Iran provide a detailed up-to-date analysis of the region's wider diplomatic and strategic concerns. Extensive use is made of both Russian and Arabic language sources and of interviews with Russian and Arab leaders and officials, including Yassir Arafat and Andrei Kozyrev.

Author Biography

Talal Nizameddin is Lecturer in International Relations at Haigazian University, Beirut.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	iii
Introduction: the making of a national foreign policy	1	(15)
Soviet interests and the Middle East: competition and co-existence	4	(5)
Russia and the Middle East: setting the parameters	9	(3)
Note on sources	12	(4)
The Soviet Union and the Middle East 1945-1985: opportunities and limitations	16	(28)
Stalin and the bipolar world	17	(3)
Khrushchev broadens Moscow's horizons	20	(5)
Brezhnev: consolidation leads to stagnation	25	(8)
Reorientation after split with Egypt	33	(5)
The military dimension	38	(2)
Conclusion: failure outweighs success	40	(4)
Gorbachev's New Thinking: the transition period	44	(27)
Redefining alliances and threats	47	(1)
Israel and New Thinking	47	(4)
The Soviet Union and its Arab `allies'	51	(4)
Gorbachev and pro-Western states	55	(3)
Moscow and the Iran-Iraq dilemma	58	(6)
The consequences of New Thinking	64	(7)
Problems, debates, ideas: forming a national foreign policy under Yeltsin	71	(37)
The end of the USSR	72	(2)
Yeltsin and the West	74	(4)
Russia's redefinition of the Middle East	78	(5)
Debates, reforms and the Middle East	83	(16)
Conclusion: Primakov hones a national policy	99	(9)
Russian-Israeli relations: facing the inevitable	108	(37)
Problems of the past in Soviet-Israeli diplomatic relations	108	(3)
Attitudes and perceptions	111	(2)
Russian national interests and Israel	113	(3)
The Middle East peace process	116	(6)
Obstacles in Russian-Israeli relations	122	(6)
Primakov and Israel	128	(9)
The importance of trade relations	137	(2)
Conclusion: between optimism and realism	139	(6)
Russia and Israel's neighbours: a new basis of relations	145	(39)
The decline of Soviet influence	146	(1)
Russia and the PLO: a friendship without commitments	147	(9)
Russia, Jordan and the triumph of realism	156	(4)
Russian relations with Syria and Lebanon: the old and the new	160	(16)
Conclusion: a balanced policy	176	(8)
Saudi Arabia and Iraq: Russia between new friends and old allies	184	(36)
Saudi Arabia and the USSR	185	(5)
Russia and Saudi Arabia: failed expectations	190	(7)
Iraq: an old friend with many enemies	197	(5)
Russian-Iraqi relations: establishing a new framework	202	(11)
Conclusion: squaring the Gulf circle	213	(7)
Russia, Turkey and Iran: a regional power game	220	(34)
Post-Second World War relations with Iran and Turkey	221	(2)
Soviet relations with Iran (1970-91)	223	(3)
The Soviet Union and Turkey to 1991	226	(2)
Russia and Turkey: diplomacy and trade on separate tracks	228	(5)
Russia and Iran	233	(7)
A new dimension: Central Asia and the Caucasus	240	(8)
Conclusion: balancing regional interests	248	(6)
Conclusion	254	(19)
Retrospective overview	255	(3)
Gorbachev's foreign policy overhaul	258	(2)
A new chapter in foreign policy making	260	(5)
National interests and the Middle East	265	(4)
The grey lines of Russia's policy	269	(4)
Bibliography	273	(13)
Index	286