This week's Syrian Summit in Sochi between the Russian, Iranian, and Turkish leaders arguably represents a Mideast Concert of Great Powers modelled off of its 19th-century European predecessor. The three parties have been strategically converging over the past year and a half, with this process receiving a powerful boost following the failed pro-American coup attempt against President Erdogan in summer 2016. Ever since then, these Great Powers have been cooperating with one another in their primary area of shared interest, resolving the War on Syria, and the most well-known outcome has thus far been the Astana peace process.
This was a major achievement in and of itself because it signified that the three civilizations had finally found a reason to work together despite their long-running history of conflict with one another over the centuries. An exciting era of relations is veritably dawning as three of Eurasia's most powerful states strengthen their multilateral partnership and expand it to new horizons. Looking beyond the more immediate impetus that the Syrian situation has been in forming this Mideast Concert of Great Powers, the less visible trend has been the indispensable role that Russia has begun to play in promoting stability in the regions beyond its borders.
To expand on this observation, Russia's 21st-century grand strategy is to become the supreme balance force in the Eurasian supercontinent, which explains why it's trying "balance" the tri-continental pivot space of the Middle East through its Great Power diplomacy with Iran and Turkey in order to counteract the disruptive processes that the US has unleashed in this region ever since the beginning of the so-called "Global War on Terror". Moscow's multipolar mission has thus far been wildly successful, but there nevertheless remain certain obstacles that will have to be dealt with sooner than later.
For example, Turkey is still a nominal member of NATO, and Russia's stance towards the Kurdish issue is much milder than its two Great Power counterparts'. Furthermore, the state fragility of Syria and Iraq presents a formidable challenge that could make or break the Tripartite, and Moscow's "S-400 diplomacy" with Riyadh understandably raises some eyebrows in Tehran. That being said, each of these issues is certainly surmountable with the right amount of trust between the three parties, and their present trajectory gives rise to well-grounded optimism.
Farhad Batebi, political commentator from Iran, and Serap Balaman, Turkish political commentator, commented on the issue.
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