Mideast War: Blessing and Curse for Russia
In some ways the Israeli-Palestinian conflict likely benefits Vladimir Putin’s leadership. But it also magnifies potentially destabilizing ethnic and social tensions within Russia
Putin’s Birthday Present?
As the previous Natto Thoughts report noted, October 7, 2023 -- the day that Palestinian group Hamas launched a bloody incursion into Israel, sparking a new outbreak of war in the region -- happened to be Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 71st birthday. Some Russia-focused observers, ever alert to how world events touch on Russia, referred to the attack as, in effect, a birthday present to Putin. Analysts have said Russia was probably not directly involved in the Hamas attack but nevertheless benefits from it.
Analysts have enumerated several ways the Mideast crisis helps Russia. As Berlin-based scholar Hanna Notte summed them up in an October 26 opinion column in the New York Times, “With minimal effort, Moscow is reaping the benefits from the regional chaos .... In three key areas — its military campaign against Ukraine, its designs on the Middle East and its global war of narratives with Western states — Russia stands to gain from a protracted conflict.” …
