Crisis in the Middle East: A Role for Russia?

As yet another major escalation in the Middle East is looming, it's important to weight in on a role each outside actor may play.

Here's my comparative take @russiancouncil on how Russian and American approaches to the region differ.

"A frequent criticism leveled at the Russian projection of soft power is the lack of any pronounced ideology in Russia’s foreign policy. Those who disagree believe that Russia does have a quasi-ideology for these purposes: for some, it is "conservatism," for others "pure pragmatism," both of which can work in the Middle East.

Others, in contrast, are convinced that ideology confounds unnecessarily the freedom of foreign policy manoeuvre. They talk rather about the need for “one big idea” that can “anchor” the entire foreign policy strategy. Russia supposedly lacks such an idea, while each of the US, the European Union, China, Turkey and Iran do have one.

The 🇺🇸 United States’ soft power policy seems to say: “do as we do — and you'll become us." The 🇪🇺 EU's logic goes "do as we do — and you'll be with us." Several years of 🇷🇺 Russia's activity in the Middle East might allow us to formulate such an idea today: “be with us — and you;'ll remain yourself.”

This idea reflects the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of the Middle East states, on the one hand, and an orientation on cooperation, on the other; that is, without encroachment on the traditions, values, culture and political systems of these countries.