Russia's Middle East Policy And Case Study In The Post-Cold War Era

Since it was founded twenty years ago, with the change of foreign policy, Russia's Middle East policy has gone through the development process from neglecting the Middle East, returning to the Middle East,to attaching importance to the Middle East.Russia's Middle East policy has become a very important part of its foreign policies which aimed at return of its great power status, and the Middle East also has become a fulcrum for reviving its great power status. Owing to its strategic position,the Middle East will be a hot spot for great power competition. No doubt,Russia will also be a major force for influencing the situation in the Middle East.This could not help but arouse concern from rising China whose energy dependence on the Middle East.Therefore, seeking the development tracks of Russia's Middle East policy,exploring the motivation,the essence, the characteristics and the rule of Russia's Middle East policy, scientifically predicting the development trend of Russia's Middle East policy and making it as the reference to develop friendly and cooperative relations among China, Russia and the Middle East countries, will have a certain historical and practical significance.In accordance with the developing sequence of historical events, from far to near, from general to particular,making time as longitude and events as latitude, focusing on history and reality, combining theory and practice,this article views Islamic countries with similar conditions and similar areas as a whole on the basis of the time range from the end of 1991 to the end of 2010 and the geographic scope including 18 countries so as to make a comprehensive historical review on Russia's Middle East policy and come to a clear conclusion.Partâ… :From a geopolitical perspective,this part analyses the strategic position of Middle East in global strategy and Russia's foreign strategy, points out that the importance of the Middle East to Russia lies in its strategic position,its petroleum resource development project, its sales price on Russia's foreign exchange earnings.Meanwhile,Russia has not only geo-political and strategic security interests,but also economic and trade interests in the Middle East.Partâ…¡:This part analyses Russia has inherited the legacy and impact of the Soviet Union's Middle East policy. It points out this inheritance is not profitable,but challenges and opportunities coexist.Partâ…¢:This part seeks the development track of Russia's Middle East policy since it is founded 20 years ago.It obtains that Russia's Middle East policy turns out a curve from Yeltsin's return after neglect, Putin's strong involvement to Medvedev's activebut incompetent access.This curve is positive correlation with the development of Russia's foreign policyPartâ…£:This part focuses on the two cases:one is the diplomatic relation between Russia and Iraq,the other is the diplomatic relation between Russia and Iran.It concludes that the relationship between Russia and Iraq is live specimens for 1991-2003 Russia's Middle East policy,and the relationship between Russia and Iran is a touchstone for testing the effectiveness of Russia's Middle East policy.Partâ…¤:This part probes into the characteristics of Russia's Middle East policy, it is characterized by the pragmatism of its goal, the balance of its layout, the independence of its standpoint,the activeness of its action,.the flexibility of its tactics and the uniqueness of its opponents.Partâ…¥:This part forecasts the future development trends of Russia's Middle East policy, saying that Russia's future Middle East policy will make diplomatic relations serve for Russia's internal affairs and national interests, and will place more emphasis on pragmatic goals,flexible tactics, diverse means, active actions and wide-range objects.Partâ…¦:Conclusion.This paper comes to the following conclusion:First, in the post-Cold War era, Russia's Middle East policy is positive correlation with the development process of Russia's foreign policy.Second, the fundamental motivation of Russia's Middle East policy development is that Russia's interests in the Middle East.Third, Russia's Middle East policy is characterized by the pragmatism of its goal, the balance of its layout, the independence of its standpoint,the activeness of its action,.the flexibility of its tactics and the uniqueness of its opponents. Fourth, the choice for the specific objectives of the Russian Middle East policy is subject to various domestic political trends and influence from interest groups. Fifth, Russia's future Middle East policy will make diplomatic relations serve for Russia's internal affairs and national interests, and will place more emphasis on pragmatic goals,flexible tactics, diverse means, active actions and wide-range objects.