utin’s attempts to shore up Russian influence in the Middle East were
motivated by a combination of nostalgia for the legacy of Soviet influence and strategic national interests. In part, Moscow’s policy in the
region reflected its continuing “superpower” complex and
the desire to be equal to—or at least comparable to and able
to oppose—the West and, above all, the United States. But
it also reflected Russia’s general loss of great-power status,
waning global influence, and shrinking sphere of national
interests, even if Moscow formulated these interests in
overly ambitious and often populist terms.