Great Power Politics in the Middle East: Facts and Traits of the Ongoing Rivalry
Abstract
In modern world politics, the Middle East is the core region where the rivalry among the great powers is taking place, while other conflict regions such as Eastern Asia, the North Caucasus and – lately – Eastern Europe still preserve their significance. However, it is the Middle East that directly influences the balance among the key centers of power. The significance of the Middle East region stems not only from having the greatest hydrocarbon resources in the world, but also from its strategic position and the concentration of new challenges that are present there, which extend from the rise of transnational terrorist networks to the crisis of nuclear non-proliferation. In the 2000s, the core of US strategy ion the Middle East consisted of the American project of the Greater Middle East. In early 2004, the George W. Bush Administration (2001-2009) formulated two priorities for the countries of the Greater Middle East, which were the democratization of political regimes and a war on transnational network terrorism. However, the Greater Middle East project ended up in a failure. Washington’s efforts to implement a speedy democratization of the Middle Eastern countries – from Iraq and Lebanon to Palestine – have led to the weakening of secular authoritarian regimes and strengthened radical Islamic organizations. These trends\exacerbation the rivalry among the great powers in the region. The article aims to study the core reasons for the ‘Arab Spring’ process, its main turning points, its influence on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa, and the positions of the key actors involved in it. Apart from that, the article concentrates on the US’ conceptual approaches to the regional processes and their implementation, as well as the evolution of US participation within them. The author concludes that the strategies Washington practiced towards the region in the last 5 years failed, and the change in US policies that we are seeing today has let other non-regional powers activate their presence in the Middle East and North Africa.
About the Author
Alexey Fenenko
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Dr Alexey Fenenko – Associate Professor, School of World Politics, Lomonosov Moscow State University
Moscow, 119234
References
1. Bogaturov A.D., Fenenko A.V. (2011). Postkrizisnye trendy v mirovoi politike [Post-crisis trends in world politics] // Svobodnaia mysl'. No. 2. 2011. Pp. 119-134.
2. Cofman Wittes T. (2012). Learning to Live with the Islamist Winter // Foreign Policy. 19 July 2012. URL:
3. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/07/19/learning_to_live_with_the_islamist_winter
4. Cook, Steven A. (2011). How Do You Say 1989 in Arabic? // From the Potomac to the Euphrates. Council on Foreign Relations. 28 March 2011. URL: http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2011/03/28/how-do-yousay-1989-in-arabic/
5. Danilov D.A. (2013). Evropeiskii soiuz v poiskakh otveta na vyzovy arabskoi vesny [The EU in search for the answer to the Arab Spring challenges] // Indeks bezopasnosti. 2013. Volume 18. No. 3–4 (102–103). Pp. 107 - 140.
6. Iakovlev A.I. (2013). Regional'nye aspekty mirovogo krizisa: strany Arabskogo Vostoka: smena modeli razvitiia [Regional aspects of the world crisis: Arab Countries – a change of development model] // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Series 25. International Relations and World Politics. 2013. No. 4. Pp. 13-29.
7. Konovalov I.P., Shubin G.V. (2012). Sovremennaia Afrika: voiny i oruzhie [Contemporary Africa: wars and arms] / S.V. Mezentsev (ed.). Moscow. Sotsial'no-politicheskaia MYSL''. 2012. 476 p.
8. Kuperman Alan J.A. (2013). Model Humanitarian Intervention? Reassessing NATO's Libya Campaign // International Security. Summer 2013, Vol. 38, No. 1. Рp. 105–136.
9. Morozov V.M. (2012). Izrail i Sredizemnomorskaya Bezopasnost [Izrael and Mediterraman Security] // Mezhdunarodnye protsessy. No 30-31.
10. Lynch M. (2012). The Arab Uprising: The Unfinished Revolutions of the New Middle East. New York: Public Affairs. 304 p.
11. Naumkin V.V., Kuznetsov V.A. (2013). Islamskii mir i islamskie organizatsii v sovremennoi miropoliticheskoi sisteme [Islamic World and Islamic Organizations in the modern world political system] // Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Series 12. Political sciences. 2013. No. 4. Pp. 30-56
12. Ottaway M., Carothers, Th. (2004). The Greater Middle East Initiative: Off to a False Start. Policy Brief. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 18 March 2004. Pp. 1-7 URL: http://carnegieendowment.org/2004/03/18/greater-middle-east-initiative-off-to-false-start/7gn
13. Parkhalina T.G. (1987). Frantsiia i Sredizemnomor'e [France and the Mediterranean]/ V.I.Gantman (ed.). Moscow. Nauka. 190 p.
14. Rustow D.A. (1970). Transitions to Democracy: Towards a Dynamic Model // Comparative Politics. Vol. 2. No 3. Pp. 337–367.
15. Sullivan, Charles J. (2011). Riding the Revolutionary Wave: America, The Arab Spring and the Autumn of 1989 // The Washington Review of Turkish and Eurasian Affairs. Rethink Institute. April 2011. URL: http://www.thewashingtonreview.org/articles/riding-the-revolutionary-wave-america-the-arabspring-and-the-autumn-of-1989.html
Review
For citations:
Fenenko A. Great Power Politics in the Middle East: Facts and Traits of the Ongoing Rivalry. International Trends / Mezhdunarodnye protsessy. 2014;12(3):34-58. (In Russ.)
Views:
1
Email this article 