What changes are being observed in the non-Arab states’ Middle East policies? Has neo-Ottomanism morphed from an ideological pipe dream into a foreign policy strategy? To what extent is Iran motivated by its imperial memories? Will the colonial legacy of European states be revised? What will be the Arab states’ place in the new system of regional relations? On March 30, the second session of the Valdai Discussion Club and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Middle East Conference, titled “The External Actors and the New Colonialism: Total Recall?”, was held. Andrei Baklanov, Professor – Head of the Middle East and North African Studies Section, Higher School of Economics; Qadri Jamil, Head, Syrian Opposition’s Moscow Platform; Secretary, People’s Will Party (Syria); Ahmad Majdalani, Executive Committee Member, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO); Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Oxford; Director of The Middle East Centre at St. Antony’s College, Oxford, participated. The session was moderated by Irina Zvyagelskaya, Head of the Centre for Middle East Studies, Primakov National Research Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) RAS.