Middle East Strategy at Harvard

From Robert O. Freedman

On the two major Middle East issues that divide Russia and the United States and that could have been talked about at the U.S.-Russian summit—Moscow’s legitimization of Hamas by regularly inviting its delegations to Moscow, and Russia’s protection of Iran from serious UN Security Council sanctions—not much appears to have been accomplished. I have seen no references to Hamas, and as far as Iran is concerned, all that Obama was willing to say publicly was the following:

Ultimately, you know, we’re going to have to see whether a country like Russia, for example, is willing to work with us to apply pressure on Iran. That’s not something we’re going to know the results of, probably for several more months, as we do the basic diplomatic work of putting this coalition together.

A Russian source, Yury Ushakov, an aide to Putin, told Interfax: “Obama said emphatically that Russia and the United States could cooperate more intensively on Iran, that Russia’s role is extremely important there, and that America is interested in stronger cooperation.”

What Ushakov’s comment may imply is that if Obama were to give Moscow a freer hand in Georgia and Ukraine, Russia might be more willing to be more cooperative on Iran. I doubt Obama is willing to make that bargain.