Russia and the Middle East Crises

This issue of the Russian Analytical Digest examines Russia's response to the recent Middle East crises, which have been termed the Arab Spring. In his article, Roland Dannreuther, emphasizes that the Russian position is driven by a desire for maintain stability and is framed by the wider prisms of the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia and the reset of relations with the US. In the second article, Mark Katz considers the Russian response to each of the uprisings in turn, comparing and contrasting Moscow's stances with those of the West, identifying commonality in some cases and disagreement in others.