Post-Soviet Strategic Interests in the Middle East: A Perspective for the 1990s
Abstract
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in December, 1991 left analysts pondering the direction of post-Soviet foreign policy. Post-Soviet involvement in the Middle East was particularly ambiguous and remained so through at least the early months of 1992. This paper, written in April, 1992, considers the likely future involvement of a dissolved Soviet Union in the region based upon Russian/Soviet history, ongoing domestic concerns, and foreign policy imperatives, and addresses implications for the United States. Given the deideologization of post-Soviet policy, the Middle East has lost its compelling interest as an arena for superpower competition. This notable shift in policy, along with the republics' inward focus, means that the CIS will remain largely uninterested in the Middle East and will offer little challenge to US interests in the region. Although the issues of oil and the realignment of the former Central Asian republics will be of interest to the US, they need not be of major concern. In fact, it is critical for the US to resist pressures to view the world through the old Cold War mindset that assumed every world event involving the Soviet Union was potentially damaging to US interests. The real challenge now for US Middle East policymakers is to construct a policy based on mutual American/Soviet interests in the region.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA258353
Entities
People
- Betty J. Price
Organizations
- Air War College