Report: Russia expanding influence in Middle East as U.S. retreats
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Thursday, June 7, 2001
WASHINGTON Ñ Russia has expanded its sphere
of influence in the Middle East in a drive that threatens Israel and Turkey,
a new report says.
The report says Moscow is achieving control of major sources of oil and
natural gas and is reversing the gains made by the United States since the
1991 Gulf war. The report by the Institute for Advanced Strategic and
Political Studies said Russia is also attempting to control the world price
of oil.
The United States, the report said, has refused to confront Moscow's
renewed global aspirations. Instead, the previous Clinton administration
supported Gulf regimes and the Arab-Israeli peace process, Middle East Newsline reported.
The Russian policy focuses on relations with Iran and is meant to
contain militant Islam in the nearby Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia has
developed Iranian energy reserves and offered advanced weapons and
technology in exchange for Teheran's agreement to serve as a route for any
proposed energy pipeline from the Caspian.
"Perhaps more than any other issue," said the report, authored by
strategist Ilan Berman, "Moscow's concerted quest for domination of the
Caspian Basin, and its machinations to this end in the Persian Gulf,
illustrate the degree of importance it attaches to the Middle East. Russia's
Caspian policy is clear: to project its power over the oil-rich nations of
the Caucusus to exclude any strategic presence there, and to impose its own
security environment over the area."
The report said Moscow's exploitation of the Caspian could place Russia
and its allies as the world's wealthiest oil exporters. Such control could
allow Moscow to rival the power of Gulf Arab oil and natural gas producers
and set world energy prices.
Iran's military buildup does not pose a threat to Russia, the report
said. It said weapons bought by Teheran are insufficient for attack and
Moscow is capable and willing to take preemptive measures.
At the same time, Russia has revived its relationship with longtime
clients as Iraq, Libya and Syria. Moscow has also invested heavily in Iraq's
efforts to develop oil reserves in the south as Russian arms sales to the
Middle East comprise 15 percent of its total military exports.
The achievements recorded by Moscow has weakened Turkey, a key U.S.
ally in the region. The report said Russia's growing relations with Iran and
its neighbors have undermined Ankara's strategic relationship with Israel.
"Should it continue to diminish U.S. influence," the report said,
"Russia could succeed in creating an anti-American, anti-NATO regional
grouping that would dramatically upset the regional balance of power and
place Western interests and regional Western allies Ñ like Turkey and
Israel Ñ in jeopardy."
Thursday, June 7, 2001
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