... unlike European companies, Russian oil and gas business has little experience of exploration in Egypt. Traditionally, the European BP, Eni, and Total have the strongest positions in North Africa. These companies have more information about the geology of Egypt. Besides, Russian companies are generally not active abroad. Foreign projects are not and have never been a priority for Rosneft, Gazprom, or the previously independent Bashneft. The decision of Rosneft to enter Zohr project is not an exception, as the company ...
... that the United States now is a major player in the region.
Russia in the region
An important trend in 2016 is that Russia has managed to expand significantly the circle of its partners in the Middle East. We can note the high level of cooperation of Russia with Egypt, Israel, new partners in the Gulf, such as Bahrain, some progress in relations with Qatar, cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the energy sector, particularly in oil production, and, of course, the normalization of relations with Turkey, including ...
... events will be felt in the entire region for many years to come.
What can external powers do to mitigate the turmoil in the region? To be sure, any external involvement is likely to have only a marginal impact on key regional countries like Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iran. However, a new concept of regional collective security proposed by the international community might help to limit the international repercussions of domestic crises like the one that took place in Turkey, and provide for ...
... the Sunni – Shiite explanation of the Russian strategy looks linear and schematic at best. To start with, the Damascus army does not include only Shiites; there are many Sunnis fighting on Assad’s side as well. In the Arab world, one of Russia’s closest partners and friends is Egypt, which happens to be the largest Arab Sunni country. The majority of twenty million plus Russian Muslims are Sunni, and it would be politically suicidal for any regime in Moscow to align with Shiites against Sunnis abroad. However, since Moscow ...
... Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) within the project «Middle East: Political Dynamics and Russia’s Interests». The authors examine the main trends in the development of the political and economic situation in Egypt, analyze the state of Russian-Egyptian relations, lead recommendations for their further development, examine the role of Egypt through the prism of the exacerbation of regional conflicts and threats in the Middle East, analyze the prospects for Russian-Egyptian cooperation in addressing ...
On October 29, 2015, RIAC and Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs (ECFA) with support of Egypt’s Embassy to Moscow held roundtable “
Russia-Egypt Cooperation: Bilateral and Regional Dimensions.
”
The event attracted former Egyptian Foreign Minister (1991-2001) and Secretary-General of the Arab League (2001-2011) Amr Moussa, RIAC President Igor Ivanov, RIAC Director General Andrey Kortunov,...
On October 28, 2015, Moscow was the venue for a public debate on Russia-Egypt relations and Middle East developments with participation of former Egyptian Foreign Minister (1991–2001) and Secretary-General of the Arab League (2001–2011) Amr Moussa.
Organized by RIAC with support of Egypt’s Embassy to Russia,...
... Cairo is doing its best to expand cooperation with Moscow along political, military-technical, energy, trade, investment and other dimensions. At the same time, the Egyptian market remains highly risky, requiring a balanced analysis of opportunities for Russian-Egyptian cooperation that is offered in this article.
The all-out destabilization caused by the Arab Spring has severely damaged the Egyptian economy, bringing about Muslim Brotherhood rule after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Although the ...
... and bonuses from both.
Besides, development of ties with Russia may hardly be burdened by extra costs, since Moscow displays no geopolitical intentions in the Middle East and needs neither bases nor military alliances.
Hence, at least in the midterm Russian-Egyptian relations are expected to remain mutually cordial, with the bilateral commitments honored, primarily in the military-technical sphere.
... higher than in the United Kingdom. Observation of Russian social networks supports this assumption.
It can also be inferred that, during the negotiations, the positions of the parties on Syria and Iraq were not identical. Yet one thing is certain: Both Russia and Egypt are equally interested in the defeat of the terrorist-jihadists of the Islamic State (IS), though, when determining its policies, Cairo must take into account the position of its major donor and ally in the relentless fight against the Muslim Brotherhood,...
