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Russia's Eastern Mediterranean Strategy

(Jerusalem Post) Douglas J. Feith and Shaul Chorev - Russia is taking advantage of the power vacuum created by America's desire to disengage from the Middle East and is emerging as a dominant military and political force in the region. For its decisive military support to Assad, Russia has been rewarded with military facilities in Syria - the Tartus naval facility and the Khmeimim Air Base - from which it can project power into the Middle East, the Balkans and farther west. Russia's military decisively affected the civil war in Syria, and also tested and demonstrated capabilities that included the first combat use of various types of Russian precision-guided munitions. Russia is also using Syria as a testing ground for its electronic warfare capabilities. Russia has attacked Syrian rebel targets with submarine- and surface-ship-launched cruise missiles. The Russian presence creates new "rules of the game" throughout the Middle East, affecting the U.S. and Israel's ability to operate freely. Israeli officials say they are not in a position to treat Russia as an enemy. A major dispute with Russia would make it harder, if not impossible, for Israel to strike Iranian forces in Syria - and that is Israel's main interest there, an interest that the U.S. shares. The Israelis do not want Russia defending Iranian forces in Syria. They do not want Israeli forces fighting Russian forces, nor do they want Russia deploying its most advanced air defenses in Syria. Douglas J. Feith, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, served as U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy. Adm. Shaul Chorev, head of the Research Center for Maritime Policy and Strategy at the University of Haifa, served as deputy chief of the Israeli Navy and as head of Israel's Atomic Energy Commission.
2019-09-27 00:00:00
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