RUSSIAN-SAUDIAN POLITICAL INTERACTION

The article analyzes the development of Russian-Saudi political interaction after the restoration (at that time of Soviet-Saudi relations) of bilateral relations in September 1990. The article focuses on the role of the Russian Muslim community in shaping the Russian politics towards Riyadh in the 1990-2000s. The authors state there are both periods of “crises” and detente in the development of Russian-Saudi political interaction that were marked by events in Chechnya and former Yugoslavia in 1994-2000, “Arab Spring” 2011, the post-September 2015 era, the Russian anti-terrorist campaign in Syria. The alternation of these periods is the constant of Russian-Saudi political contacts, despite the similarity in the approaches of both sides to the ways and methods of solving crisis situations in the Middle East region, as well as the Saudi’s pro-Russian position regarding the change in the status of the Crimea and the situation in the east of Ukraine. The general attitude of both sides towards ISIS and Jabha al-Nusra as a source of terrorism, regional instability and the challenge of international security does not remove the two main contradictions that divide Moscow and Riyadh – attitude toward the official Syrian regime and the Iran’s regional policy. The study comes to the conclusion that Russia and Saudi Arabia are interested (albeit for various reasons) in diversifying their foreign policy and foreign economic relations.

Russia, the Russian Muslim community, Saudi Arabia, Russian-Saudi relations, the Middle East, the Islamic world, Syria, Iran

1. Avetisian Zh.G. Vzaimootnosheniia Rossii i arabskogo mira: istoriia stanovleniia i sovremennoe sostoianie [Relations of Russia and the Arab world: history of development and the current state]. Obshchestvo: filosofiia, istoriia, kul’tura, 2016, no. 5, pp. 79-81. (In Russian)

2. Antiukhova E.A. «Arabskaia vesna»: politicheskie krizisy i konflikty v gosudarstvakh Blizhnego Vostoka i Severnoi Afriki [The Arab spring: political crises and conflicts in the MENA states]. Natsional’nyi interes, 2016, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 147-167. (In Russian)

3. Vizit V.S. Chernomyrdina v Saudovskuiu Araviiu, Kuveit, OAE, Oman [V. Chernomyrdin visits Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman]. Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1994, no. 23/24, pp. 9-10. (In Russian)

4. Gul’kin P.G. Rossiiskie predprinimateli v Saudovskoi Aravii [Russian entrepreneurs in the Saudi Arabia]. Aziia i Afrika segodnia, 2013, no. 7, pp. 42-45. (In Russian)

5. Kosach G.G. Rossiia i Saudovskaia Araviia: evoliutsiia otnoshenii [Russia and the Saudi Arabia: the evolution of relations]. Svobodnaia mysl’, 2015, no. 6 (1654), pp. 129-142. (In Russian)

6. Loshkarev I.D. Evoliutsiia poniatiia «diaspora» v politicheskoi nauke [The evolution of diaspora concept in the Political Science]. Etnosotsium i mezhnatsional’naia kul’tura, 2017, no.4 (106), pp. 70-78. (In Russian)

7. Neimatov A.Ia. Analiz sovremennykh rossiisko-saudovskikh otnoshenii [Analysis of current Russian-Saudi relations]. Vestnik MGIMO Universiteta – MGIMO Review of International Relations, 2011, no. 4, pp. 268-273. (In Russian)

8. O poezdke A.V. Kozyreva po stranam Zaliva [A. Kozyrev visits the Gulf states]. Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 1992, no. 9/10, pp. 36-38. (In Russian)

9. Peresypkin O.G. Rossiisko-saudovskie otnosheniia [Russian-Saudi relations]. Diplomaticheskaia sluzhba, 2011, no. 4, pp. 9-16. (In Russian)

10. Poliakov K.I., Khasianov A.Zh. Arabskii Vostok i Rossiia: problema islam-skogo fundamentalizma [The Arab world and Russia: problem of Islamic fundamentalism]. Moscow, Jeditorial USSR Publ., 2001. Pp. 120-135. (In Russian)

11. Poseshchenie R.G. Abdulatipovym Saudovskoi Aravii i Ob”edinennykh Arabskikh Emiratov [R. Abdulatipov visis Saudi Arabia and UAE]. Diplomaticheskii vestnik, 2000, no. 4, p. 6. (In Russian)

12. Kasatkin P.I., Avatkov V.A. The soft power of migration-a hard task for the European Union. Defense and Security Analysis, 2014, vol. 30, no. 4, pp. 311- 322.

13. Katz M.N. Saudi-Russian Relations Since 9/11. Problems of Post-Communism, 2004, vol. 51, no. 2, pp. 3-11.

14. Mann Y. Saudi Arabia’s Policy Toward non-OPEC Countries. Diplomacy & Statecraft, 2012, vol. 23, no. 2, рр. 381- 391.

15. Shlapentokh D. Gulf States / Saudi Arabia and Russia’s Approach to Iran: Similarities and Differences. Defense & Security Analysis, 2010, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 305-319.