Valdai Club

Despite some lull due to the pandemic, the Middle East continues to change, and new trends are noticeable in the economy, in public life, and in international relations. The Valdai Club Middle East Conference, held in Moscow in February, showed that the region maintains its long-term role as an energy hub and is looking for ways to overcome the crisis legacy of the so-called Arab Spring

.On February 21-22, 2022, the Valdai Discussion Club held its regular annual 11th Middle East Conference with the support of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

A U.S. attempt to shift geopolitical priorities to the Asia-Pacific has been met with skepticism and uncertainty from longstanding partners, leaving ample room to demonstrate the “new-type” partnerships that Xi and Putin hope to be a model for international relations.

Although the agreement to establish the multimodal International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC) was signed 20 years ago, the corridor is still not operational. However, there are now a number of factors that will support the INSTC’s successful operation. These include the EAEU’s increased engagement with India, Iran, and other South Asian and Gulf countries; the substantial potential for linking the INSTC with latitudinal transport routes; accelerated digitalisation processes, and a dramatic strengthening of the climate agenda. In this context, the study estimates the INSTC’s cargo potential to be between 14.6 and 24.7 million tonnes by 2030.

Does Russia need a new Middle East strategy? This is the first question that springs to mind. After all, Russia has been quite successful, in some cases even outperforming the Soviet Union. In fact, Russia has succeeded in developing a close relationship with Israel while maintaining its trustbased ties with Palestine, as well as building an alliance with Syria all while strengthening relations with Iran, which used to call the USSR a “Little Satan”.

A century ago, on 28 February 1922, Egyptian independence was declared; the British protectorate was abolished and an independent Kingdom of Egypt was established. It was a dramatic historical development that brought Egypt back to the Egyptians. For the first time in twenty-three centuries, Egyptians were able to decide their own fate.