Russia’s return to the Middle East: building sandcastles?

31 July 2018

Edited by

Nicu Popescu, Stanislav Secrieru

With contributions from

Julien Barnes-Dacey, Dimitar Bechev, Timofey Borisov, Dmitriy Frolovskiy, Florence Gaub, Dalia Ghanem, Mark N. Katz, Vasily Kuznetsov, Anton Lavrov, Carole Nakhle, Dmitri Trenin

Russia’s political, diplomatic, military and economic footprint in the Middle East and North Africa has expanded visibly over the last decade.

This Chaillot Paper provides a detailed account of Russia’s spectacular return to the region. The paper depicts how major regional players have adjusted to the new reality but also addresses the question of whether Russia will be able to sustain its geopolitical ambitions in the Middle East.