Russia and Islamic world

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In mid-June the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) held its 33rd session in Baku. Russia attended it as an observer for the first time. Early in June OIC Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu paid an official visit to Moscow.

Russian presidential advisor Aslambek Aslakhanov spoke about the development of Russia's cooperation with the Islamic world in an interview with RIA Novosti correspondent Marianna Belenkaya.

Question: Why does Russia need the Middle East and the Islamic world in general?

Answer: Russia is a big world power, and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It cannot abstain from major international processes, which are taking place in this vast region. There are 21 countries in the League of Arab States, including the Palestinian autonomy; the OIC has 57 members; the total population of the Arab countries exceeds 250 million; and there are more than 1,300,000,000 Muslims in the world. The Middle East and the Islamic world are important for us as partners in trade and economic cooperation, a market for military hardware, and in perspective, as a partner in the energy sphere, and in high industrial technologies.

Russia wants to consolidate its role of a go-between in settling political disputes between different countries and civilizations. We cooperate with all Arab nations to reduce the threat to our own security, and fight drug trafficking and international terrorism. At the same time, our policy is well balanced, and Russia succeeds in maintaining high level of relations with Israel.

Q: What do you think of Russia's role in what is called the conflict of civilizations?

A: In Russia almost every seventh person is a Muslim (about 20 million people all in all), and we must consider this fact in building constructive relations with the rest of the world.

It is in Russia that Christians and Muslims have not simply co-existed with each other for centuries, but also enriched each other with cultural values, traditions, customs, and spirituality, preserving the unique features of each religion, and not imposing their own values on each other.

In contrast to the growing animosity between the West and the Islamic world, Russia has taken a balanced approach, avoiding confrontation and playing the role of a bridge between civilizations. In this context it is only natural that Russia has received an observer status in the OIC. I'd call this a breakthrough of our foreign policy and diplomacy. Apart from political goals, this status gives us a chance to develop closer economic relations with many Muslim countries, Gulf nations above all.

Q: Is Russia pursuing an independent and clear-cut policy in the region?

A: Yes, it is. In recent years, Russia's policy in the Muslim world has been independent enough. We have no right to follow in the wake of even the most advanced countries, and we do not rule out close cooperation with other countries. One example of multilateral cooperation is the Quartet, which consists of the UN, the U.S., Russia, and the EU. By concerted effort, they have developed a roadmap for settling the conflict in the Middle East.

Russia's turning into an independent player in the world arena has largely come as a surprise for our partners. Many of them, primarily, the United States, do not have an unequivocal attitude to this fact. At the same time, Russia is not renouncing cooperation with the West on key issues on the global agenda.

When discussing the problems of the Middle East, it is important to realize that we live in a sophisticated world, in the globalization era, when countries are intertwined and depend on each other in all spheres of human endeavor. There are no problems, which can be solved single-handed by one country regardless of its political, economic, and military potential.

Q: Are Russia and the U.S. rivals in the Middle East and the Islamic world in general?

A: Russia and the U.S. may have different positions on international and regional issues, and different attitudes to Muslim nations. Russia and the U.S are certainly rivals in the Middle East and the rest of the Muslim world. The question is what it is based on and how far it may go. It is only fair that Russia does not want to play the role of a U.S. junior partner in the Middle East affairs and in questions pertaining to the destinies of the Muslim world. But Russia can and must be a partner of the U.S. and the West when its national interests are not prejudiced.

Both Russia and the West are interested in the stability and modernization of Arab and other Muslim nations. They can try to promote this process, all the more so since Russia and the U.S. have good experience of cooperation. They have worked together in the drive against international terrorism and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and contributed to the development of the road map. Together with the U.S. and other G8 partners Russia is working hard to eradicate poverty and infectious diseases, and to deal with other challenges and threats in the world.

Q: What do you think about the situation in Iraq? If it is viewed as a U.S. blunder, what is Russia's attitude to it? Does Russia stand to gain or to lose from U.S. setbacks in Iraq, if this question is appropriate? What are Russia's prospects in Iraq?

A: The situation in Iraq is very bad, and it is an obvious U.S. failure. Iraq has been hit by a wave of acts of terror, robbery, violence and hostage crises. It is virtually on the brink of a civil war. Contradictions between the Sunnis and Shiites are growing, and the Kurd problem has deteriorated beyond any measure. The war in Iraq is a serious miscalculation on behalf of Washington. Instead of bringing peace to Afghanistan (where the U.S. had some reasons to interfere) and contributing to its social and economic recovery, the U.S. launched a new military campaign, which had not been duly justified to the international community, was too expensive, and had little chance of success. As a result, Iraq is in permanent crisis, the radical Islamic forces (Talibs) are on the upsurge in Afghanistan, a wave of Islamism may hit Pakistan, and new hotbeds of tension may appear in the Islamic world from Africa to South-East Asia.

At the same time, there are no grounds for Russia to gloat over U.S. setbacks. The aggravation of the situation in Iraq has a destabilizing influence on the entire region around it. It has a bad effect on the areas within direct vicinity of Russia - the Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia should act in unison with the U.S. and its allies to prevent further spread of terrorism and more hostage situations. It is not easy to do this, but we have to act because otherwise things will only get worse.

I think it will take a certain amount of time to change the situation in Iraq for the better, but in all probability, it is possible to freeze the domestic conflict even now. Russia has good prospects of success in promoting the Iraqi dialogue, which will involve all of its political and ethnic communities. If such dialogue produces results, Russia will have a chance in Iraq.

Q: What do you think about the Iranian nuclear program, and Russia's strategy towards Iran?

A: As any other country, Iran has the right to develop nuclear power engineering for peaceful purposes and in close cooperation with the IAEA. If it complies with these terms, Russia will be ready to continue giving technical assistance to Iran in this field. We share the concerns of our partners among the permanent members of the Security Council and the rest of the world community. We are worried about Iran getting nuclear arms to the same extent as the U.S. or Western Europe, if only because we are closer to it.

But what should be done? It is clear that pressure on Iran or sanctions against it are counterproductive. They will only push Tehran to intensify its efforts to develop nuclear arms. Besides, sanctions hit the population of a country, rather than its rulers.

Therefore, Russia's proposal to enrich uranium for Iranian nuclear power plants on Russian territory with its subsequent return should remain in force. Needless to say, Iran must implement its peaceful nuclear program under full IAEA control.

In general, Russia's strategy towards Iran should be aimed at promoting good neighborly relations which generate mutual geopolitical and economic advantages. Ethnic separatism threatens the territorial integrity of Iran, just as it does in Russia. Therefore, Tehran is interested in the stability of the area adjacent to the Caucasus.

Iran shares Russia's view on the advantages of a multipolar world, and the main direction of its foreign policy is consonant with Moscow's goals. Moreover, Iran has access to the world oceans, and Russia is interested in it as a transit route, especially after it has lost a number of ports on the Black Sea.

The North-South transport project is underway. Russian oil and gas companies would like to be more involved in joint projects with Iran. In 2005, Tatneft registered a joint company in Kish together with Iran's Foundation of the Oppressed and Dispossessed. Russian LUKoil is upgrading its positions on the Iranian market through participation in an Iranian-Norwegian joint venture. Cooperation in the power industry holds good prospects. There are new projects as well - Iranian Tavanir and the United Energy Systems of Russia, Russia's electricity monopolist, are working to unite their national energy systems into a single grid and to secure transit and seasonal electricity exchange via Armenia and Azerbaijan. Experts of the two countries are drafting plans for creating a single Caspian energy grid.

Q: What could you say about Russia's economic cooperation with Arab countries and other Muslim nations in general?

A: It is not making much headway, except for Algeria and Malaysia. Imperfect laws and "environmental resistance" are the main obstacles. We are not yet ready to develop large-scale economic and financial contacts with the Islamic world. In order to change the situation for the better, we should involve more experts and make plans and forecasts more thoroughly.

Q: But joint projects are still underway. Which ones deserve mention?

A: The Bushehr project in Iran is one of the biggest, just as the Blue Stream, a pipeline laid by the Italian company ENI on the Black Sea seabed to Turkey. It is generally a successful project, although not without some drawbacks - the pipe is not working at full capacity because Turkey has limited gas requirements, and wants to diversify its sources of supply. In order to resolve the problem, Russia has signed an agreement with Turkey and Italy on stretching the pipe to Italy (the leaders of the three countries reached agreement on this score during the inauguration of the pipeline late last year).

Q: What could you say about other Muslim countries?

A: In the last five years, Russia has been developing economic cooperation with a number of OIC nations. Credit for this goes to the Russian Chamber for Commerce and Industry and its president Yevgeny Primakov, a global political heavyweight, who enjoys deep respect in the Middle East and the rest of the world.

In 2002, the Russian Chamber signed an agreement on cooperation with the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Counties.

At the initiative of the Russian Chamber, the Russian-Arab Business Council (RABC) was set up in 2003 to include spokesmen for the Russian business community, and the chambers of commerce and industry, and business elites of Arab countries.

One of the main joint projects of the RABC, the federal and Moscow city governments provides for the construction in Moscow of a VIP business structure with a tentative title the Arab House or the Oriental Fairy Tale. It will include offices of major Muslim companies, five- and seven-star hotels, as well as shopping malls and business centers.

In perspective, Gazprom may take part in the construction of an Iran - Pakistan - India pipeline and/or a trans-Afghan pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan and further to India.

There are some prospects of Russian investment in projects of electric power engineering, heavy industry, transportation and communications. On a par with Iran and Turkey, Russia is primarily interested in projects in Muslim countries in Central Asia. In 2005, Russian companies started building two major hydropower plants in Tajikistan - the Sangtudin GES-1 and Nurek GES. In perspective, surplus energy will be exported to Afghanistan, and, possibly, to Pakistan. Once the Tajik and Kyrgyz projects are completed, it will be possible to meet the energy requirements of not only Central Asian nations, but also their neighbors.

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