
// Russia and New States of Eurasia. 2024. no. III (LXIV). P. 122-137
Andrey E. Yashlavsky, Cand. Sci. (Political Sciences), IMEMO (Moscow, Russian Federation), Leading Researcher of the Theory of Politics Section.
Received 16.07.2024. Revised 09.09.2024. Accepted 16.09.2024.
Abstract. The war that broke out in October 2023 in the Middle East between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, caused a wide resonance around the world, including countries outside the Middle East. The post-Soviet space was no exception: the Middle East aggravation echoed both in the former republics of the USSR, where most of the population is Muslim, and in those states where there is no Muslim majority. Within the framework of this article, the topic of the impact of events in the Middle East on the politics of the post–Soviet countries of Central Asia and the South Caucasus is considered - both from a foreign policy and domestic political point of view, especially since both of these aspects often turn out to be closely interrelated. This is especially true in the republics of Central Asia, where the authorities were forced to balance between attempts to maintain beneficial relations with Israel for these countries, but at the same time maintain the opportunity to position themselves as part of the Islamic world. In the case of the post-Soviet South Caucasus, the greatest impact of the conflict in Gaza was on Azerbaijan (the only one of the three Transcaucasian republics where the majority of the population is Muslim). At the same time, unlike the Central Asian states, the response of Azerbaijani residents “from below” to the Middle East war was not so noticeable, while foreign policy influence acquired clearly defined characteristics related both to the special relations that Baku maintains with Israel and to the ambitions of such regional powers as Turkey and Iran.
Keywords: Central Asia, South Caucasus, Transcaucasia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Middle East, Gaza, Israel, Hamas, Islamism, Jihadism, Iran, Turkey
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