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Russia’s Public Diplomacy in the Middle East

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Russia’s Public Diplomacy

Part of the book series: Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations ((SID))

Abstract

This chapter deals with different aspects of Russia’s public diplomacy in the Middle East. It reveals historical interactions with the Muslim world and indigenous populations of Muslims as a cultural identity and relational basis for cooperation. It also covers Russia’s interests and motivations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region seen from the perspective of Russia and others. Besides, it covers Russian public and digital diplomacy and humanitarian assistance tools.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, see the Foreign Policy Concepts of the Russian Federation from the year 2013, http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/122186.

  2. 2.

    https://mgimo.ru/about/news/experts/blizhniy-vostok-stabilnaya-nestabilnost/.

  3. 3.

    Russia and the Muslim World, Geopolitica, 2 November 2013, https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/article/russia-and-muslim-world-0 (accessed 10 October 2018).

  4. 4.

    World Staff, Russia’s Influence in the Middle East is Growing, PRI, 14 December 2017, https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-12-14/russia-s-influence-middle-east-growing (accessed 10 October 2018).

  5. 5.

    Esber, F., Arab World’s Relations with Russia Will Only Grow Stronger, Arab News, 9 May 2018, http://www.arabnews.com/node/1299491 (accessed 10 October 2018).

  6. 6.

    Byman, D. L., Pushing Back Russia in the Middle East: A Thought Experiment, Brookings, 13 April 2018, https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/04/13/pushing-back-russia-in-the-middle-east-a-thought-experiment/ (accessed 10 October 2018).

  7. 7.

    The Greater Middle East is a political term, denoting a set of contiguously connected countries, stretching from Morocco in the west.

  8. 8.

    The term “New Middle East” was first revealed to the world in Tel Aviv in June 2006 by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He was called upon to replace the obsolete and somewhat obsessed concept of the “Greater Middle East.” Zbigniew Brzezinski believed that the Eurasian Balkans [5], as well as the South Caucasus (Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia), and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan) were to become the countries of the new Middle East. See, for example, Nazemroaya, Mahdi Darius Plans for Redrawing the Middle East: The Project for a “New Middle East.” Global Research—https://www.globalresearch.ca/plans-for-redrawing-the-middle-east-the-project-for-a-new-middle-east/3882.

  9. 9.

    http://www.mid.ru/en/maps/eg//asset_publisher/g1LePFf60C7F/content/id/668948.

  10. 10.

    For more information, see: First Lecture on Public Diplomacy: Concepts & Methods by Ambassador Kishan Rana. [Electronic resource]. Access mode: https://www.diplomacy.edu/pd/intro/evolution.

  11. 11.

    There have been modified versions of this doctrine, see http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/official_documents/-/asset_publisher/CptICkB6BZ29/content/id/2563163 for a version from 2016.

  12. 12.

    Klimentov, V., RT, Russian Soft Power in Images, Ina Global, 9 July 2013, https://www.inaglobal.fr/en/television/article/rt-russian-soft-power-images (accessed 10 October 2018); Audinet, M., RT, Russia’s Voice to the World, Le Monde Diplomatique, 8 April 2017, https://mondediplo.com/2017/04/08RT (accessed 10 October 2018).

  13. 13.

    BBC Monitoring, Russia Reaches Out to Arab World Through TV, Arab Media & Society, 18 May 2007, https://www.arabmediasociety.com/russia-reaches-out-to-arab-world-through-tv/ (accessed 10 October 2018).

  14. 14.

    Russia and the Muslim World, Geopolitica, 2 November 2013, https://www.geopolitica.ru/en/article/russia-and-muslim-world-0 (accessed 10 October 2018).

  15. 15.

    Yakis, Y., Russia and the Islamic World, Arab News, 22 May 2017, http://www.arabnews.com/node/1103421 (accessed 10 October 2018). Estimates vary, but one estimate is that there are 17 million Muslims living in Russia, which is 12 per cent of the population.

  16. 16.

    For example see https://gorchakovfund.ru/en/news/view/dynamics-of-russian-iranian-relations-was-discussed-at-the-international-conference-in-tehran/ or http://russiancouncil.ru/en/projects/regional/middle-east/.

  17. 17.

    Group of Strategic Vision “Russia-Islamic World”, Russia-Islamic World, no date given, http://rusisworld.com/en/about/ (accessed 10 October 2018).

  18. 18.

    Refer to the following link, https://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/4931.htm.

  19. 19.

    See https://www.oic-oci.org/page/?p_id=179&p_ref=60&lan=en for further details.

  20. 20.

    http://www.kremlin.ru/acts/bank/28020.

  21. 21.

    http://rs.gov.ru/en/about.

  22. 22.

    http://www.ippo.ru/protection.

  23. 23.

    http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5271038.html.

  24. 24.

    http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/5271038.html.

  25. 25.

    http://syr.rs.gov.ru/en/about.

  26. 26.

    http://rulaws.ru/acts/Kontseptsiya-prodvizheniya-rossiyskogo-obrazovaniya-na-baze-predstavitelstv-Rossotrudnichestva-za-rubezhom/.

  27. 27.

    https://www.interfax.ru/russia/614408.

  28. 28.

    https://fts.unocha.org/.

  29. 29.

    http://www.mchs.gov.ru/dop/info/smi/news/item/32998925/.

  30. 30.

    http://syria.mil.ru/syria/bulletins/bulletin.htm.

  31. 31.

    http://syr.rs.gov.ru/ru/news.

  32. 32.

    http://rhm.agency/.

  33. 33.

    http://pak.rs.gov.ru/en/news.

  34. 34.

    http://jor.rs.gov.ru/en/announcements/1579.

  35. 35.

    http://jor.rs.gov.ru/en/news/32892.

  36. 36.

    https://xn%2D%2Db1aew.xn%2D%2Dp1ai/mvd%20/structure1/Glavnie_upravlenija/guvm/compatriots.

  37. 37.

    https://ria.ru/society/20180801/1525750596.html.

  38. 38.

    https://knesset.gov.il/spokesman/eng/PR_eng.asp?PRID=13424.

  39. 39.

    For the calculation the information of the leading Russian-speaking Israeli Internet sites is taken: “izrus.co.il,” “newsru.co.il,” “israelinfo.co.il,” “kyrsor.co.il.”

  40. 40.

    https://www.maariv.co.il/.

  41. 41.

    https://www.alumnirussia.org/licenses/.

  42. 42.

    https://www.alumnirussia.org/associations/4/region.

  43. 43.

    http://www.antiterror.ru/library/broshures/160613456.html.

  44. 44.

    http://pse.rs.gov.ru/uploads/document/file/6864/osnovnye-mery-protivodeystviya-terrorizmu-v-rossiyskoy-federatsii.pdf.

  45. 45.

    http://tur.rs.gov.ru/en/about.

  46. 46.

    Vladimir Morozov and Greg Simons—based on Russia’s and US accounts on Twitter and Facebook.

  47. 47.

    https://www.web-canape.ru/business/socialnye-seti-v-2018-godu-globalnoe-issledovanie/.

  48. 48.

    https://globaldiplomacyindex.lowyinstitute.org/country_rank.html.

  49. 49.

    http://russiancouncil.ru/blogs/shakirov/rossiyskaya-tsifrovaya-diplomatiya-v-2016-godu/.

  50. 50.

    https://www.rt.com/about-us/press-releases/rt-arabic-10-years/.

  51. 51.

    https://russian.rt.com/press_releases/article/386016-rt-na-arabskom-10-let-v-efire.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Moscow State Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia (MGIMO University), Moscow, Russia

    Vladimir Morozov

  2. Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Greg Simons

  3. Department of Communication Sciences, Turiba University, Riga, Latvia

    Greg Simons

Authors
  1. Vladimir Morozov
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  2. Greg Simons
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vladimir Morozov .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. The Gorchakov Public Diplomacy Foundation, Moscow, Russia

    Anna A. Velikaya

  2. Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

    Greg Simons

  3. Department of Communication Sciences, Turiba University, Riga, Latvia

    Greg Simons

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Morozov, V., Simons, G. (2020). Russia’s Public Diplomacy in the Middle East. In: Velikaya, A.A., Simons, G. (eds) Russia’s Public Diplomacy. Studies in Diplomacy and International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12874-6_14

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