Valdai Club

The attractiveness of cooperation with Russia in the eyes of the elites of Arab countries and the GCC monarchies is associated with the process of sovereignisation of their foreign policy at the stage of transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world, Igor Matveev writes.

The dollar’s weakening trend does not mean that there are no challenges which may prevent other currencies from strengthening. The practice of the second half of the 20th and early 21st centuries showed that the transition of foreign economic activity to national and clearing currencies requires not only political will, but also economic conditions, writes Igor Matveev.

Despite the positive nature of the progress in the normalisation of relations between Syria and the Arab world, the content and speed of this process remain unclear. Along with incentives — the desire of the states of the Middle East to strengthen sovereignty, the Iranian-Saudi “détente” and good prospects for economic cooperation, there are obstacles. The main ones are American sanctions that impede the formation of a regional platform for the reconstruction of Syria, Igor Matveev writes.

A pending possible withdrawal of US troops from North-Eastern Syria amid the unclear political future of the Syrian Kurds and their parallel economy is fraught with the risk of creating a sub-regional vacuum of power. It could eventually push Turkey and Russia to manage their cooperative rivalry, courting both Damascus and the self-proclaimed “Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria” (AANES), run by Kurdish military and political forces.

One answer which offers promise is the dynamic development of dialogue with the Arab world.