What Is Russia Up To in the Middle East? 1st Edition

by Dmitri Trenin (Author)

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ISBN-13: 978-1509522316

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The eyes of the world are on the Middle East. Today, more than ever, this deeply-troubled region is the focus of power games between major global players vying for international influence. Absent from this scene for the past quarter century, Russia is now back with gusto. Yet its motivations, decision-making processes and strategic objectives remain hard to pin down.

So just what is Russia up to in the Middle East? In this hard-hitting essay, leading analyst of Russian affairs Dmitri Trenin cuts through the hyperbole to offer a clear and nuanced analysis of Russia's involvement in the Middle East and its regional and global ramifications. Russia, he argues, cannot and will not supplant the U.S. as the leading external power in the region, but its actions are accelerating changes which will fundamentally remake the international system in the next two decades.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This timely, trenchant essay... is packed with invaluable insight. There is nothing quite like it.”
Financial Times

"A timely narrative of Moscow's noisy, though deftly executed and clearly efficient, re-insertion in the Middle East. Trenin is deeply familiar with the Kremlin's decision-making though cognizant of Russia's limited resources. Heavily informed by geopolitics, Trenin convincingly demonstrates the large impact of regional politics on the shifting equations among global powers."
Ghassan Salamé, Professor of International Relations Emeritus, Sciences Po, Paris

"Trenin offers an indispensable and authoritative account of Moscow's motivation in the Middle East. Rooted in history and lucidly told, he paints a compelling portrait of Russia as a power "with no permanent friends and no eternal enemies", ready to kick over regional tables on its global comeback to geopolitical top table."
David Gardner, International Affairs Editor, Financial Times

"The Russian media treatment of Syria has remained too insulated for too long from the larger international dialogue about the war and Russian-American relations. The West would clearly benefit from a better understanding of the Russian perspective ― which is not to suggest that the Russian media’s portrayal of the country’s Middle East strategy should be taken at face value. Fortunately, a far more sober and comprehensive account of the Russian government’s objectives in the region, and its blind spots, is available in form of Dmitri Trenin’s short new book, What Is Russia Up to in the Middle East?"
Foreign Policy

"How did Russia engineer its return to the Middle East? In this succinct, lucid account, Dmitri Trenin reminds his readers of Russia’s long historical ties with the region, and also of the domestic factors that have driven the Kremlin to pursue an interventionist policy there."
Angela Stent, Survival

‘An empirically rich and sober account, which could not be timelier …Trenin offers clear answers to those who ask: “What is Russia up to in the Middle East?’
Changing Character of War Centre

"Trenin packs a great deal of substance into this slender volume."
Foreign Affairs

‘insightful and elucidating’
The Middle East Journal

"A good source for students and the general public aiming to orientate themselves in the nuances of the regional developments of Russian foreign policy."
Interdisciplinary Political Studies

About the Author

Dmitri Trenin is the Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Product details

ASIN : 150952231X
Publisher : Polity; 1st edition (December 11, 2017)
Language : English
Paperback : 144 pages
ISBN-10 : 9781509522316
ISBN-13 : 978-1509522316
Item Weight : 5.9 ounces
Dimensions : 4.9 x 0.6 x 7.4 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #290,122 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #150 in Russian & Former Soviet Union Politics
- #385 in African Politics
- #411 in International Relations (Books)

Customer Reviews:
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Top reviews from the United States

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Joseph Helou

great read on Russia's Role in Mideast

Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2018

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This book can be considered an extended essay on Russia's role in the Middle East, especially in terms of the Russian intervention in the Syrian conflict. It challenges many of the ideas floating in academic circles and journalistic narratives about the reasons driving Russia, particularly the Russian political elite, to intervene in Syria. Written by an authority on Russia and international relations, Trenin challenges contemporary ideas by arguing that Russia seeks to operate within international institutions or, in other words, seeks to invite the USA to respect its positions within the UN and other such institutions of international security.
Therefore, after reading this book, one will notice that Russia's motive to combat terrorism, defend Assad and the Syrian regime, and play an influential role in the Middle East were factors inviting the Russian elite to intervene in Syria, but some of the main concerns may have been due to the nature of US-Russian interaction on the global arena.
I highly recommend this book to avid readers of international relations, security studies and Middle East politics, in addition to Russian foreign policy of course.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Nelson Tovar

Putin is reaching the arab market to help sustain his own economy.

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

It is a must read book. The author, Dimitry Trenin possesses the experience to relate aspects of his native Russia, approaching the real intentions that Vladimir Putin has to reach contact with the Arab world to engage in the sale of products that are going to help the financial interest of his country and his people.

One person found this helpful

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ngascpr

Concise, Objective, and Informative

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2018

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The author offers a very well-rounded and nuanced view of Russia’s actions, intentions, and perspectives in the Middle East. It’s a short read, but every chapter is informative and relevant to understanding current Russian foreign policy.

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Mike V

Informative and engaging

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2020

Verified Purchase

A comprehensive assessment of Russia’s role in the middle east. Written clearly, this text should be great for both non-academics and scholars alike.

Helpful

Shem Guibbory

great book, important read

Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

succinct, informative and revelatory.

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Lost John

Worth a read

Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2017

Dmitri Trenin, the author of this book, heads the Carnegie Moscow Center, a regional affiliate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Given that this NGO with a foreign (American!) affiliation has not been pressured out of existence over recent years, one might anticipate that a) the Center and its Director will be anxious not to offend Vladimir Putin and those around him and b) that this extended paper on Russia’s activities in the Middle East is likely to be less than wholly objective, presenting a view that is essentially the Kremlin’s.

And that is precisely the case. The book is nevertheless worth reading, not least so as to tune into the Moscow perspective.

Cutting straight to the heart of the matter, we are told that:

‘Coming so soon after the start of the Ukraine crisis, the Syrian operation was a second major move by Moscow against the U.S.–dominated world order. Essentially, not only did Russia break again the unspoken post-Cold War taboo on military operations without U.S. consent. It also for the first time went beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union and inserted its military might in the heart of the Middle East.’

‘Russia acted in support of a government that the United States considered illegitimate, and attacked the forces the U.S. had armed, trained, and funded. It was also the first time ever that Moscow and Washington found themselves directly participating in a war in the same country but on opposite sides.’

There’s enough to discuss there for a whole seminar, but I’ll keep going:

‘The payoff from the war included powerful advertisements both for Russia’s weapons systems and for Moscow’s political backing. Neither was lost on Middle Eastern leaders. Russia, which had not been on the agenda of many Arab leaders for a long time, reentered their calculations. The boost in global prestige was more difficult to calculate, but it was just as real.’

Again, we could spend much time discussing aspects of that statement, and we should, for it’s the nub of the whole book, and of what the Kremlin hopes has been achieved by its Syrian adventure.

But then the self-congratulation begins to get out of hand:

‘It is negotiating those divides [Sunni vs. Shia, Saudi vs Iran; Iran vs Israel; Turkey vs the Kurds, etc.] that would test Russia’s ability not only to promote its own interests, but also to deliver public goods – a mark of a true great power in the twenty-first century.’

Here are some things I didn’t know before reading this book:

‘The Russians … were unpleasantly surprised when Israeli-made drones were used by the Georgian forces during the brief war in the Caucasus in 2008. Since then, Moscow has been buying Israeli technology to improve its own domestic drone production. … In 2014, after Crimea and Donbass, when Israel refused to join the U.S.–led sanctions regime against Russia, the Jewish state has become a near-unique source of advanced technology for Moscow.’

Hmmm, given Israel’s relationship with the United States, one might consider that not even a marriage of convenience – more a courtship, or perhaps just flirtation, of convenience.

But, Trenin tells us: ‘The United States is … Russia’s prime partner in breaking the IS stranglehold on parts of northern and central Syria. Achieving a form of partnership with the United States on terms acceptable to Moscow has been and remains the chief goal of Russia’s intervention in Syria.’

The chief goal!

But not everything is rosy. On his last page Trenin ventures this:

‘They [the Russian leaders] need to finally come up with a model of economic development that works; they have to revive the country’s technological and scientific potential; work even harder to address the looming demographic problems; and of course preserve political stability in the country even as the prospect of power transition emerges on the horizon. These leaders will need both vision and clear goals, as well as a keen sense of the future, not only pride in the old glory.’

One could have written that about the Soviet Union 30 or more years ago, and about Russia anytime since.

But, as I wrote above, the book is worth a read.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

Andre Ricardo Chavez

one with a great sense of realism and objectivity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 1, 2018

Verified Purchase

A leading figure on Russia, Dimitri Trenin’s new book is decisively a Russian perspective (This is not a criticism); one with a great sense of realism and objectivity. But such as it is, there are a number of contradictions and problems in the book (though rather minor):

1. Trenin follows the anti-hegemon, multipolar theme that Russia seeks to achieve in seemingly pluralistic world relative to American power that is currently found in other scholarship on the subject. However, when it comes to the Middle East, Trenin asserts that Russia ‘is not aiming to displace America from the region - Moscow had no interest and no means to fill the void’. Only a few pages later, however, he hints that ‘Russia is playing a bigger game in both the Middle East and beyond’. The reader is left to wonder where this ‘bigger game’ is headed in the long-run.  
2. Throughout the book Trenin points to western adventurism (rightly so) to point out where Russian and Western experts and commentators diverge. Yet, he asserts that the United States ’abandoned Hosni Mubarak when it concluded that he was doomed’ in Egypt; taking on a somewhat contradictory tone. 
He demonstrates, confidently, Russia’s pragmatic approach to Middle Eastern diplomacy that is seemingly absent from US strategy, and how this role as chief arbiter has allowed Russia to make no long lasting enemies or boxed itself into long-term partnerships in the region.

However, he does not seem to address how the Arab Spring was viewed by Putin and other high officials other than saying that ’Russian experts in the region from the start were skeptical that upheavals in Arab countries would actually lead to democratic transformation as hoped in the West’. Nor does he discuss the manner in which Gaddafi fell from power in Libya by way of being killed by rebels; something western commentators believe spurred on Syrian intervention (For the most recent view on this, see the an Atlantic article published in the Jan/Feb 2018 edition called, 'What Putin Really Wants'), and how it perhaps coloured Putin's views on the region. Both could have been discussed in-depth somewhat.

As an outsider to Middle East geopolitics, but with a keen interest in Russia, this book is will get you up to speed with a basic sketch of the subject matter from a leading expert in Russian affairs. In short, a good read, and recommendable work.

3 people found this helpful

Responsible Reviewer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 9, 2018

Verified Purchase

Brilliant book. Loved it.

phoebe

Fascinating book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 15, 2018

Verified Purchase

Efficient delivery, fascinating book.

Jojowasaman

Análisis realista y templado

Reviewed in Spain on February 25, 2018

Verified Purchase

Un buen y breve estudio de la nueva presencia de Rusia en Oriente Próximo, distribuido en 4 capítulos (historia, guerra, diplomacia y comercio). Lejos del maniqueísmo, analiza el origen y las posibles consecuencias del papel de Moscú en la región.

Translate review to English

Lost John

Worth a read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 16, 2017

Vine Customer Review of Free Product( What's this? )

Dmitri Trenin, the author of this book, heads the Carnegie Moscow Center, a regional affiliate of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Given that this NGO with a foreign (American!) affiliation has not been pressured out of existence over recent years, one might anticipate that a) the Center and its Director will be anxious not to offend Vladimir Putin and those around him and b) that this extended paper on Russia’s activities in the Middle East is likely to be less than wholly objective, presenting a view that is essentially the Kremlin’s.

And that is precisely the case. The book is nevertheless worth reading, not least so as to tune into the Moscow perspective.

Cutting straight to the heart of the matter, we are told that:

‘Coming so soon after the start of the Ukraine crisis, the Syrian operation was a second major move by Moscow against the U.S. – dominated world order. Essentially, not only did Russia break again the unspoken post-Cold War taboo on military operations without U.S. consent. It also for the first time went beyond the borders of the former Soviet Union and inserted its military might in the heart of the Middle East.’

‘Russia acted in support of a government that the United States considered illegitimate, and attacked the forces the U.S. had armed, trained, and funded. It was also the first time ever that Moscow and Washington found themselves directly participating in a war in the same country but on opposite sides.’

There’s enough to discuss there for a whole seminar, but I’ll keep going:

‘The payoff from the war included powerful advertisements both for Russia’s weapons systems and for Moscow’s political backing. Neither was lost on Middle Eastern leaders. Russia, which had not been on the agenda of many Arab leaders for a long time, reentered their calculations. The boost in global prestige was more difficult to calculate, but it was just as real.’

Again, we could spend much time discussing aspects of that statement, and we should, for it’s the nub of the whole book, and of what the Kremlin hopes has been achieved by its Syrian adventure.

But then the self-congratulation begins to get out of hand:

‘It is negotiating those divides [Sunni vs. Shia, Saudi vs Iran; Iran vs Israel; Turkey vs the Kurds, etc.] that would test Russia’s ability not only to promote its own interests, but also to deliver public goods – a mark of a true great power in the twenty-first century.’

Here are some things I didn’t know before reading this book:

‘The Russians … were unpleasantly surprised when Israeli-made drones were used by the Georgian forces during the brief war in the Caucasus in 2008. Since then, Moscow has been buying Israeli technology to improve its own domestic drone production. … In 2014, after Crimea and Donbass, when Israel refused to join the U.S. – led sanctions regime against Russia, the Jewish state has become a near-unique source of advanced technology for Moscow.’

Hmmm, given Israel’s relationship with the United States, one might consider that not even a marriage of convenience – more a courtship, or perhaps just flirtation, of convenience.

But, Trenin tells us: ‘The United States is … Russia’s prime partner in breaking the IS stranglehold on parts of northern and central Syria. Achieving a form of partnership with the United States on terms acceptable to Moscow has been and remains the chief goal of Russia’s intervention in Syria.’

The chief goal!

But not everything is rosy. On his last page Trenin ventures this:

‘They [the Russian leaders] need to finally come up with a model of economic development that works; they have to revive the country’s technological and scientific potential; work even harder to address the looming demographic problems; and of course preserve political stability in the country even as the prospect of power transition emerges on the horizon. These leaders will need both vision and clear goals, as well as a keen sense of the future, not only pride in the old glory.’

One could have written that about the Soviet Union 30 or more years ago, and about Russia anytime since.

But, as I wrote above, the book is worth a read.

3 people found this helpful

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