Moscow making a mark in the Mideast
No doubt Moscow is riding high in the Arab world, it has reintroduced itself as a real power broker and a military actor in the region, concurrently with being a diplomatic arbiter. Profiting from the shaky American performance, Russia is certainly catching up, it is reviving historical relations and even forging fresh ones. The triumph in Syria was a mere springboard that paved the way back into the Arab world.
The Kremlin badly wants to be seen as an equal to the White House. Russia is wearing a new mindset, obviously, it is not demanding changes in ideologies, it neither shows judgement on Arab regimes nor asks for democracy. On the other hand, the Arab world have witnessed a reluctant American diplomacy during the Obama administration, and persistent talks about American withdrawal from the region especially the Gulf under the current administration, let alone American propensity of demanding changes in the state and society structures of its allies. Now, clearly Moscow is not a match to Washington, however it has established itself as an awfully important player, it is trying to strike a balance between “Russian interests” in the region and “Russia’s image” that it wants to project as a responsible power, which might sometimes lead to ambivalent diplomacy.
Russia has raised its profile particularly among GCC countries promoting itself as a trustworthy partner. The UAE is Russia’s main partner in the Gulf, Moscow appreciated Abu Dhabi’s support to the
Russian economy at a critical time back in 2014. The two states have declared a strategic partnership and cooperation in many sectors including strategic politics, security, science, technology, space exploration, energy among others. The two have declared a joint venture back in 2017 to manufacture a fifth-generation jet fighter in the UAE.
The Arab spring resulted in a more hawkish foreign policy for both countries, they are pro-stabilisation, pro-multilateralism, and for more secular governments in the region. The two states hold close opinions towards the mutual challenges such as radicalisation and
terrorism, they share the same concerns about islamist ambitions in the region.
Russia has strong ties with Iran, yet it leans towards the UAE as it has more to offer in the domains of geopolitics, energy and economy. Abu Dhabi will grow to be Moscow’s main partner in the Middle East in the coming years. Iran and Turkey, despite having competing long-term goals, want to poke the West in the eyes, they have a similar strategy of destabilising the Middle East to create a new order. They might develop a future agreement that would include a division of influence.
Abu Dhabi will grow to be Moscow’s main partner in the region