Russia in Global Affairs

All the major players are poking each other but there is no desire to cross the Rubicon.

It is believed that the Middle East is home to grandmasters in this field, masters of this high stakes game. But global experience shows that the level of geopolitical mastery is generally declining, perhaps because of dramatically changing contingencies. There is no reason to believe that the various actors are still capable of playing games of real strategic depth, while managing to avoid falling into a shallow tactical pool.

Islamism. Political Islam. Islamic fundamentalism. The mass media and academic studies are literally brimming with these terms. However, what we see today as a natural component of international relations, in the 1970s-1980s was an unheard-of and inconceivable phenomenon in world politics.

Abstract The paper studies the “Turkish model” in a comparative historical perspective from three angles: as an example of mobilization modernization; as a combination of…

One of the most disturbing trends in international politics today is a rapid deterioration of the security situation in the Gulf area, — a region which remains a critically important part of the global economy, finance and transportation.

The time when Russia could contemplate an exit strategy seems to have passed. It would be virtually impossible now to guarantee a negotiated settlement in Syria or at least a lasting truce without Russia’s substantial military presence in that country.

After six years of rapid and successive developments that have engulfed Arab countries, they could not reach a safe path towards the future.

Civil society actors have become key players in conflicts, especially in intra-state ones. This has been facilitated by the transformation of conflicts, increasingly characterized by high-intensity intra-border ethno-religious tensions and strong international influence by proxy.

The three pillars of Saudi power projection, namely Islam, oil, and the U.S. patronage, have grown considerably weaker in recent years. The era of checkbook diplomacy is truly over and Riyadh will have to invest more in diplomacy.