Report Launch: The MENA region: A great power competition

This volume gathers analysis on the policy choices pursued by Washington and Moscow in the MENA region and develops case studies of the two powers’ policies in the countries beset by major crises.

Table of contents

Preface
Frederick Kempe and Giampiero Massolo

US Withdrawal from the Middle East: Perceptions and Reality
William F. Wechsler

Same Ends but Different Means: Change, Continuity and Moscow’s Middle East Policy
Mark N. Katz

The Astana Model: Methods and Ambitions of Russian Political Action
Andrey Kortunov

Redistribution of Power in the Middle East: Moscow’s Return to Syria
Chiara Lovotti

Iraqi-Russian Relations amidst US Security-Focused Engagement
Abbas Kadhim

Russia and the United States in the Cases of Egypt and Libya
Andrey Chuprygin

Turkey’s Russian Roulette
Gönül Tol, Ömer Taşpınar

Russia’s Strategy Toward Iran and the Gulf
Nicola Pedde

Avoiding Zero-Sum: Israel and Russia in an Evolving Middle East
Scott B. Lasensky, Vera Michlin-Shapir

Conclusions
Karim Mezran, Emily Burchfield

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

The MENA Region: A Great Power Competition volume deals with competition among regional and external players for the redistribution of power and international status in the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on Russia’s renewed role and the implications for US interests. Over the last few years, a crisis of legitimacy has beset the liberal international order. In the context of global reassessment, the configuration of regional orders has come into question, illustrated by the current collapse in the Middle East. The idea of a ‘Russian resurgence’ in the Middle East set against a perceived American withdrawal has captured the attention of policymakers and scholars alike, warranting further examination.

This volume gathers analysis on the policy choices pursued by Washington and Moscow in the MENA region and develops case studies of the two powers’ policies in the countries beset by major crises. The volume was compiled and edited by Arturo Varvelli, Karim Mezran, and Emily Burchfield and features analysis from Andrey Chuprygin, Abbas Kadhim, Mark N. Katz, Andrey Kortunov, Scott Lasensky, Chiara Lovotti, Vera Michlin-Shapir, Nicola Pedde, Omer Taspinar, Gonul Tol, and William Wechsler. Click the download button above to read the publication.