After the U.S hegemonic retreat : Russia's foreing and security policy in the middle east

Abstract

Abstract: Abstract: In the last years, the Russian Federation has been in the global spotlight due to a series of assertive attitudes in his ‘near abroad’ and beyond. A central debate in the IR discipline and the regional studies on the Post-Soviet Space and the Middle East has been on the sources and nature of that ‘new’ regional and global policy. Russia used to have low profile in the Middle East during the Post-Cold War years, but the escalation in the Syria Civil War due to the imminent fall of the Al-Assad Regime provoked a critical juncture that pushed Russia to support military its ally. The article argues that Russia has recovered the great power status due to a military intervention in the Middle East which has been a spin-off of the U.S. hegemonic retreat after the failure of Iraq and the Obama’s decision not to act in Syria. At the same time, Russia also has operated with an acceptable degree of military efficacy on a regional order separate from its immediate zone of interest. The new involvement provides us a significant indicator of a status upgrade since the latent capabilities become actual with the projection of military strength overseas.