A. M. VASILIEV Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Russian-Iraqi, Russian-Turkish relations, US invasion of Iraq, Russia in the Middle East at the beginning of the XXI century "With the changes that have taken place in the system of modern international relations, ideological aspects are fading into the background... As far as politics is concerned, Russia has been and still is an important participant in the Middle East peace process and, given its stability, friendly relations with the Arab world, as well as Russia's progressive relations with Israel, it can make a real contribution to the stabilization of the situation in the region." Amr Moussa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, then Secretary-General of the League of Arab States In the first decade of the twenty-first century, contradictory trends in world development were becoming more pronounced, which could not but affect Russia's policy in the Middle East and North Africa. On the one hand, there was a process of globalization, the socio-economic structure of the entire world was changing on the basis of information technologies, the role of mass media and the Internet was increasing, and cross-border movement of capital, goods, and people was becoming increasingly widespread. The countries of the Pacific Ocean and Asia were rapidly rising, and a polycentric world system was being created. Russia, which strengthened its statehood and economy after the crisis of the 1990s, continued its course towards entering this world, but as one of its centers, demanding that its national priorities and national security tasks be taken into account. On the other hand, the United States sought to consolidate its leadership, in other words, its dominance in the world, relying on military, financial, economic, informational, and innovative superiority. This was reflected in the expansion of NATO, in attempts to solve emerging crises by force. For a time, the theory and practice of neoconservatism pre ... Read more