Russia and the Arabs: Behind the Scenes in the Middle East from the Cold War to the Present

429 Pages·2009·3.23 MB·English

by  Yevgeny Primakov

P $29.95US / $37.95 CAN
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MIDDLE EAST from the COLD WAR P art memoir, part history, Russia and the Arabs
reveals the past half-century in the Middle
“From his years at the epicenter of policy, Primakov provides illuminating insight into Russia’s to the PRESENT East from a viewpoint seldom seen by
strategic involvement in the Middle East during the Cold War and beyond.”
Westerners. Yevgeny Primakov,formerly the head of the
—HENRY A. KISSINGER,
U.S. Secretary of State, 1973–1977 Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Foreign Minister,
and Prime Minister of Russia, exposes how key political
“Russia and the Arabs is a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at high- stakes diplomacy in the
Middle East. Primakov is an excellent storyteller who, over the course of three decades, engaged
events unfolded through the personal interactions and
personally with every major leader in the region. Primakov’s compelling account will be greeted
with pleasure by some and heartburn by others, but no serious student of the era can disregard his rivalries among notable leaders from Yasser Arafat and
point of view.” —Madeleine K. Albright,
Yitzhak Rabin to Anwar Sadat and Saddam Hussein,
U.S. Secretary of State, 1997–2001
whom he knew personally. He shows how the 1967 and
“A fascinating and provocative analysis of developments in the Middle East as seen through the
1973 Arab-Israeli wars developed; exposes Russia’s
eyes of a very close observer, first as a Soviet journalist and later as a high Soviet official. One does M
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not have to agree with every aspect of Yevgeny Primakov’s reflections to find great value in his previously unknown role in the 1991 Gulf War; and D
Yevgeny Primakov interpretation of this critical period in the evolution of the Middle East. A rewarding read.” A
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was the head —General Brent Scowcroft, assesses Russia’s Middle East policiesalongside those of IM
former United States National Security Advisor and author ofAmerica and the World 1
of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, Foreign other foreign players,including the United States. The 0
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“Russia and the Arabsreads like a spy thriller, yet it is a profound study of Russia’s involvement in the 4
Minister, and Prime Minister of Russia. His previous author’s first-hand accounts of behind-the-scenes 1
Middle East based on unique first-hand experience and serious analysis. No serious student of the 7
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books published in the United States include Russian region will be able to ignore it. This is essential reading.” —Dimitri K. Simes, encounters and his insights into what really drove the 9
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Crossroadsand A World Challenged. He lives in Moscow. President of the Nixon Center and Publisher of The National Interest region’s key events make Russia and the Arabs an essential C
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“Yevgeny Primakov’s understanding of the forces at play in this complex region and his perspectives on read for everyone interested in world affairs. N
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Russian interests and policies in the Arab world make a valuable and unique contribution to understanding
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contemporary Middle East history.” —Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian, G
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Founding Director of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, Rice University
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$29.95US / $37.95 CAN A
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ISBN 978-0-465-00475-1 K
A Member of the Perseus Books Group 52995 Translated by Paul Gould
www.basicbooks.com
Jacket design by Eric Fuentecilla
9 780465 004751
09/09
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R A
USSIA AND THE RABS
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R
U S S I A
A N D T H E
A
R A B S
Behind the Scenes in
the Middle East
from the Cold War
to the Present
Y P
EVGENY RIMAKOV
Translated from the Russian by Paul Gould
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
New York
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Copyright © 2009 by Yevgeny Primakov
Published by Basic Books
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
Originally published in Russian in 2006 as Confidential: The Middle East
Onstage and Backstageby Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Russia.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of
this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park
Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810.
Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for
bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and
other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special
Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street,
Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call [phone], ext. 5000, or
e-mail [email protected].
Designed by Brent Wilcox
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Primakov, E. M. (Evgenii Maksimovich)
[Konfidentsial’no. English]
Russia and the Arabs : behind the scenes in the Middle East from the
Cold War to the present / Yevgeny Primakov ; translated from the
Russian by Paul Gould.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-465-00475-1 (alk. paper)
1. Middle East—Politics and government—1945- 2. Middle East—
Foreign relations—Soviet Union. 3. Soviet Union—Foreign relations—
Middle East. 4. Middle East—Foreign relations—Russia (Federation)
5. Russia (Federation)—Foreign relations—Middle East. I. Title.
DS63.1.P772513 2009
327.47056—dc22
2009014923
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Dedicated to my grandson Yevgeny Primakov Jr.
(Yevgeny Sandro), who has embarked on his own
“Middle Eastern journey.”
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C O N T E N T S
Preface ix
1
The Nationalist Revolutionaries 1
2
A Failed Chance for Arab-Israeli Relations 23
3
The Inevitable Confrontation with the West 31
4
National Interests Take Precedence Over Arab Unity 43
5
The Soviet Union and the Arab World:
A Difficult Path to Closer Ties 57
6
The Lost Cause of Communism 75
7
America Steps Forward 87
8
The Beginning and End of the Six-Day War 101
9
USA: Tactics in the New Middle East 125
10
Hidden Pressures Behind the Yom Kippur War of 1973 143
11
The Making of the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty 167
12
Lebanon in the Eye of a Storm 177
13
A Return to a Harder Line 209
14
The Arafat Phenomenon 219
15
The Soviet Union and Israel 253
–vii–
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viii CONTENTS
16
The Phenomenon That Was Saddam Hussein 301
17
The Saga of the Kurds 325
18
A Nuclear Shadow Over the Arab-Israeli Conflict 341
19
The Future of the Middle East 357
Afterword 385
About the Translator 389
Notes 391
Works Cited 397
Index 399
0465004751-Primakov:1stPages 7/14/09 3:51 PM Page ix
P R E FA C E
As you get older, you find yourself looking increasingly not to the
future, but to the past. You become less and less concerned with the
world of work. And as your children—then your grandchildren—start
to lead their own lives, your part in their future ever more noticeably
starts to diminish. What is more, your memory of the distant past
comes into sharper focus. You start to see things that you did not see
before; the hindsight of the years you’ve put behind you allows you to
make sense of what you once failed to understand or mistook for
something else. Nothing makes me more aware of this than looking
through the dozens of notebooks that I kept for many years and have
not gotten around to sorting out.1
For a long time I have been nursing the idea of writing a book
about the Middle East.2 It is a region I have followed for half a cen-
tury as a journalist, academic, and politician—as a correspondent for
Pravda; as deputy director (and later director) of the Institute of
World Economy and International Relations at the USSR Academy of
Sciences; at the Academy’s Institute of Oriental Studies; as head of the
SVR (Russia’s foreign intelligence service); as Russian foreign minis-
ter, as Russian prime minister, and as a deputy in the Duma, Russia’s
parliament.
There are events in the Middle East—many of them subject to false
rumors—that have unfolded before my very own eyes. Some of these
events either are not known about or have been forgotten. Meanwhile
they have played a huge role in making the region what it is today—
–ix–