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Source: http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=31746
America and the Middle East: The Next Four Years
(Asharq Alawsat-UK) Amir Taheri - After two decades of virtual absence from the Middle East, Russia is trying to revive the influence that the Soviet Empire once enjoyed. Moscow's new activism is partly caused by fears that the American retreat might pave the way for a neo-Islamist domination of the Middle East. Russia is concerned about the emergence of a "green Islamic belt" containing it to the south, while its horizons are also blocked by the EU to its west and China to its east. A neo-Islamist bloc stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Caspian Basin could send wrong signals to Russia's restive Muslim regions. For its part, Turkey's neo-Ottoman elite is trying to cast itself as the leader of a new Middle East dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood behind a political facade. Four years ago, Turkey was the region's only nation that had no problems with its neighbors. Today, this is no longer the case.