Author: Yevgeny Primakov The Middle East Problem in the Context of International Relations Research in the field of international relations and world economics would be untenable without an analysis of regional conflicts, among which the Middle East one takes a special place. This is, perhaps, the longest regional conflict in the world. It has already surpassed other conflicts in the number of states involved and the frequency of its evolving into the crisis stage - large-scale armed clashes. Yet this is not all there is to determine the impact that the Middle East conflict has on the dynamics of the international situation. THE THREAT OF GLOBALIZATION OF THE MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT The Middle East conflict is unparalleled in terms of its potential for spreading globally. During the Cold War, amid which the Arab-Israeli conflict evolved, the two opposing superpowers directly supported the conflicting parties: the Soviet Union supported Arab countries, while the United States supported Israel. On the one hand, the bipolar world order which existed at that time objectively played in favor of the escalation of the Middle East conflict into a global confrontation. On the other hand, the Soviet Union and the United States were not interested in such developments and they managed to keep the situation under control. Yevgeny Primakov is President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation; Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; member of the Editorial Board of Russia in Global Affairs. This article is based on the scientific report for which the author was awarded the Lomonosov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences in 2008. стр. 130 The behavior of both superpowers in the course of all the wars in the Middle East proves that. In 1956, during the Anglo-French-Israeli military invasion of Egypt (which followed Cairo's decision to nationalize the Suez Canal Company) the United States -- contrary ... Читать далее