диссертация (1169608), страница 13
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However, Moscow isinterested in reducing the conflict potential of this Arab subregion, including throughthe development of regional economic integration.Against the backdrop of highlighting the diversity of possible strategies ofstates, the agency of smaller and medium-sized countries has now to be more clearlydefined, as previously they were merely seen as objects of the policy of centers ofpower and their fierce competition160. In a less confrontational internationalenvironment, new, broader opportunities for balancing external threats and beneficialcontiguity have opened up for the Gulf states, for examples, building new relations withIran161.This group of Arab monarchical states managed to preserve the ruling regimesand internal political stability, despite the mass protest movements that took place in2011 in Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.
Indeed, in Bahrain, anti-government protests werethe most massive and lengthy, in the course of their development, demands were voicedto overthrow the monarchy and to transition to republican rule, but the authorities159Федорченко А.В. Арабский мир: итоги и перспективы экономической интеграции / А.В. Федорченко //Ежегодник Института международных исследований 2010. - М., 2011 – 117 с.160Кудряшова И. В.
Легко ли быть средневеликим // Международные процессы. – Т.6. – № 3(18). – 2008.– C. 20-35.161Rebuilding Security in the Persian Gulf [Electronic resource] // The Middle East Institute. – URL:http://www.mei.edu/events/rebuilding-security-persian-gulf51managed to launch a “national dialogue” and gain the support of the majority of thecountry's population162.The smaller states of the Gulf actively manifest themselves in the politicalcontext of resolving regional crises. For example, they contributed to the recognition ofthe National Coalition of Opposition and Revolutionary Forces (NCDS) of the ArabLeague, which was reflected in the fact that Syria's membership in the Arab League wasfrozen and at a meeting of the League in March 2013 in Cairo163. According to theRussian researcher T. Bordachev, “the ability of these states to simultaneously pursue apolicy of balancing and bandwagoning becomes a stable feature of contemporaryinternational relations.
On the one hand, they act as supporters of integration, receivingpractical benefits from it. On the other hand, the constant development of integration in which its more powerful participants are interested - contradicts the strategicaspirations of smaller countries. Thus, they are objectively orientated towards hinderingthis process.
In other words, the integration policy of a smaller or medium-sized state isto maintain the optimal balance between balancing and bandwagoning. Any decisionconcerning the implementation of one of the strategies is a conscious step by thepolitical leadership of the country. It is influenced not only by external circumstances,but also by internal factors - national consensus, political order, etc”164.Balancing and bandwagoning strategies their significance as the basicarchetypes of the behavior of states in the modern international environment in generaland in the processes of regional integration in particular. At the same time, due to thedecreased confrontation, they are increasingly being considered in the context ofexclusively military-political strategy. The institutional basis of the world system ismore fragmented.
Organizations of different levels and scales are becoming larger, butat the same time structures appear legally more flexible (G20, APEC Forum), which162Bain, W. Between anarchy and society: trusteeship and the obligations of power. // Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, - 2003 – 230 р.163ال سوري ال وط ني ل الئ ت الف س فارة أول ت س لم ق طر. [ ال م عار ضة ي دعو وال خط يبQatar receives the first embassy ofthe Syrian National Coalition. The preacher calls the opposition] [Electronic resource]. Asharqa Al Awsat.
– URL:http://www.aawsat.com/print.asp?did=722455&issueno=12539164Elman M. F. The foreign policies of small states: Challenging neorealism in its own backyard //BritishJournal of Political Science. – 1995. – Т. 25. – №. 02. – С. 171-217.52allow regional powers on a par with world powers to discuss development problems ona more equal footing, but do not force the powers to surrender their sovereign rights.In this light the focus of regional studies research is increasingly shifted to theeconomic component of the relationship amongst smaller and middle-sized countries aswell as between them and great powers, both intra- and extraregional.At the present stage in the Middle East region, this is taking shape in theconsolidation of coalitions, caused by the intensification of interstate rivalry.
One of themain parameters of such associations is their multiplicity and representativeness with aview to justifying and legitimizing the "correctness" of the tasks of the coalition165. Inthis context, the cumulative importance of the voices of smaller and middle-sizedpowers acquires an additional dimension166, as does each individual decision to excludethemselves from such formats and organizations167.2.3. Constructing a Regional Security System in the Middle East in the Context ofNew Challenges and ThreatsThe spatial configuration of the Middle East as a region is not unambiguouslydefined in the scientific community.
For this reason, it seems important to start thischapter off by once again delineating the boundaries of the region. The phrase "TheMiddle East" was first used by the British General Thomas Gordon in his speeches atthe beginning of the 20th century when covering the security of the transport corridorbetween Britain and India in connection with the emergence of new threats to Britishinterests (including from the Russian Empire) in the military -political space to thesouth and south-east of Europe.
Almost simultaneously the term "Middle East" began toenter into wider usage.165ال ع س كري اإل س المي ال تحال ف.. 39 [ »اإلرهاب« ت حارب دول ةIslamic military alliance .. 39 countries fighting«terrorism»][Electronicresource]//Al-Jazeera.–URL:http://www.aljazeera.net/encyclopedia/military/2015/12/15ال تحال ف-اإل س المي-ال ع س كري-34-دول ة-ت حارب-اإلرهاب166The Contest for Regional Leadership in the New Middle East [Electronic resource] // Council on ForeignRelations. – URL: https://www.cfr.org/blog/contest-regional-leadership-new-middle-east167[ ال س عودي ة ب ق يادة اإلرهاب ضد اإل س المي ل ل تحال ف ت ن ضمOman joins the Saudi-led Islamic AllianceAgainst Terrorism] [Electronic resource] // CCN Arabic.
– URL: https://arabic.cnn.com/middleeast/2016/12/29/omanjoins-saudi-led-islamic-coalition53The boundaries of the region vary in accordance with the objectives of the agiven researcher: thus, Zbigniew Brzezinski introduced the concept of the “GreaterMiddle East” to blur the geopolitical significance of the traditional region andartificially incorporate into its new definition parts of the post-Soviet geostrategic space,including the Eurasian Balkans, the South Caucasus (Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia)and the state Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan,Kyrgyzstan,) together with Afghanistan168.When stressing the general socio-political unsettledness and high level ofconflict, the UN and G7 documents refer to the term “the broader Middle East”, wherethe traditional geopolitical Middle East space is supplemented by countries of WestAsia (Pakistan, Afghanistan).Today’s researchers of the Middle East region include in its make-up states thathave a similar economic structure, a single civilizational basis, ethno-confessionalcomposition169.
Thus, in order to avoid contradictions and misinterpretations, it becomesnecessary to outline the boundaries of the region, which will be considered in this study.At present, the geopolitical massif of the Middle East is expanding, primarilydue to part of Asia Minor (Turkey), the Middle East (Iran) and North Africa (Egypt).The basis for such integration tendencies is primarily economic (development andtransportation of energy carriers), civilizational factors (Islam), as well as the desire toform the regional security system.Proceeding from the internal civilization-geographical and cultural-politicallogic of the development of the Eastern countries, A. Voskresenskiy and A. Torkunovpropose the following definition of the Middle East international political microregion,in which they include “...Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Syria , Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Iraq andthe states of the Arabian Peninsula"170.168Greater Middle East Initiative: Off to a False Start [Electronic resource] // Carnegie Endowment forInternational Piece.
– URL: http://carnegieendowment.org/2004/03/18/greater-middle-east-initiative-off-to-false-start/169Панин, В.Н. Политический процесс на Ближнем Востоке: влияние России и США / В.Н. Панин. –Пятигорск: Изд-во ПГЛУ, 2004. – 235 с.170Восток и Запад: Региональные подсистемы и региональные проблемы международных отношений /пред.
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