Russia – Saudi Arabia:
Will Partnership Take Place?
Fedorchenko A.V.,
Professor, Director of Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Institute for International Studies, MGIMO University, a.fedorchenko@inno.mgimo.ru
elibrary_id: 460371 | ORCID: 0000-0002-5951-5936 | RESEARCHER_ID: K-9093-2013
DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2019.06.14
Fedorchenko A.V. Russia – Saudi Arabia: Will Partnership Take Place? – Polis. Political Studies. 2019. No. 6. https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2019.06.14
This article is inspired by the provisions of the new fundamental scientific research of V.V. Naumkin, dedicated to the early stage of the Soviet-Saudi relations – “Failed Partnership. Soviet Diplomacy in Saudi Arabia in the Period between Two World Wars”. The place of the “diplomatic breakthrough to Arabia”, in the system of the USSR’s connections with countries of the Middle East and the Islamic world, is shown. For Russia, the political situation in the Gulf region is of fundamental importance due to the size of its resource potential, its significant role in world energy, its geographical proximity, and the influence of Arabian countries on the Muslim population of our country. The relative political stability and economic weight of the Arabian monarchies are the basis for the new Arabian vector of Russia's Middle Eastern policy. The influence of the monarchies of the Persian Gulf zone, especially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is growing in the region. The author tries to answer questions regarding the opportunities and prospects for establishing partnership relations between Russia and Saudi Arabia. The most realistic areas for closer ties are cooperation in resolving regional conflicts and combating international terrorism, creating a collective security zone in the Persian Gulf area, coordinating actions on the oil market, and bringing economic relations to a new qualitative level.
References
Heggy T. 2009. The Arab Cocoon. Arab’s Problematic with Modernity and Progress. Cairo: Merit Publishing House.
Ash-Shakhri A. 2001. Al’-Alyakatas-saudiiya-as-suf’etiiyavaas-saudiiya-ar-rusiiya. 1926-1996 [Saudi-Soviet and Saudi-Russian Relations. 1926-1997]. Riyadh. (In Arab.)
At-Turki M. 2005. Saudovsko-rossijskie otnosheniya v global’nyh i regional’nyh processah (1926-2004 gg.). [Saudi-Russian Relations in Global and Regional Processes]. Moscow: Progress. (In Russ.)
“Islamskoe gosudarstvo”: fenomen, ehvolyuciya, perspektivy. 2016. [“Islamic State”: a Phenomenon, Evolution, Prospects]. Ed. by A.A. Orlov. Moscow: MGIMO. (In Russ.)
Naumkin V. 2018. Nesostoyavsheesya partnerstvo. Sovetskaya diplomatiya v Saudovskoj Aravii mezhdu mirovymi vojnami [Failed Partnership. Soviet Diplomacy in Saudi Arabia in the Period between Two World Wars]. Moscow: Aspect Press. (In Russ.)
Ozerov O. 2010. Russia and Saudi Arabia: 20 Years of New Relations. – International Affairs. No. 11. P. 28-35. (In Russ.)
Vasil’ev A.1999. Istoriya Saudovskoj Aravii (1745 g. – konec XX v.) [History of Saudi Arabia (1745 – end of the Twentieth Century)]. Moscow: Klassika Plyus, Knizhnyj dom gazety Trud. (In Russ.)
See also:
Melville A.Yu., Ilyin M.V., Makarenko B.I., Meleshkina E.Yu., Mironyuk M.G., Sergeev V.M., Timofeev I.N.,
Russian Foreign Policy as Seen by the Expert Community. – Polis. Political Studies. 2009. No4
Sheynis V.L.,
Russia’s national security. durability trial. Part II. – Polis. Political Studies. 2010. No1
Zvereva T.V.,
On Russia in the World and the World in Russia (N.E. Bazhanova: Ad Memoriam). – Polis. Political Studies. 2015. No5
Yanov A.L.,
Slavophiles and Foreign Politics of Russia in the 19th Century.. – Polis. Political Studies. 1998. No6
Kazantzev A.A.,
Liberal approach to russian foreign policy. Notes on the margins of the book by V. Petrovsky. – Polis. Political Studies. 2012. No2