Middle East: Evolution. 2010–2025. Valdai Discussion Club’s Collection of Reports
ISBN 978-5-907845-26-8
The Middle East is a region characterized by constant change. There has not been a single century, or even decade, without a visible transformation of the landscape. However, there is another distinctive feature: no transformation can erase the past, leaving a clean slate to start anew. The past and future are intertwined, sometimes indistinguishably so. This compilation is a chronicle of the contemporary development of the Middle East, as documented by the Valdai Discussion Club and the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. It presents a selection of over fifteen years’ worth of thematic reports prepared for the annual Middle East conferences organized by the Valdai Club. This is fantastic reading for anyone who seeks to unravel the complex political enigmas that characterize this region, both timeless and ever-evolving.
© The Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, 2025
Instead of a preface
Reading books like “Middle East: Evolution. 2010-2025” can be a truly delightful experience. It’s akin to the pleasure of discovering a stack of yellowed, 30-year-old newspapers in the attic of a summer house on a quiet evening. As you leaf through them, you find yourself captivated by stories about the future and about something that happened long ago and is almost forgotten.
The Valdai Club Middle East Conference has convened for the fourteenth time, and with each gathering, a report has been prepared by the Club’s experts. These reports, now compiled into a single volume, offer a remarkable chronicle of the Middle East’s evolution over the years.
What stands out is the exceptional quality of these analyses. The insights presented have proven remarkably accurate, both in hindsight and in their relevance to the present day. The depth of expertise displayed in these reports is truly commendable.
Take, for instance, a line from the 2010 report: “The habitual tensions in Arab-Israeli relations are now matched with circumstances that could seriously complicate the already difficult search for a lasting peace.” These words could just as easily have been written today, underscoring the enduring nature of the region’s challenges.
But the most fascinating thing about reading the reports is not the incredible ferocity of the conflict that has been revealed, but the striking ability of evil to find new loopholes so that the flames of war and hatred never subside, but flare up in new places and with new force. The ingenuity of this evil is simply astounding, and reading the reports is instructive for anyone interested in the twists and turns of history in the Middle East, a region that is known to be incredibly beautiful and at the same time frighteningly dangerous.
Andrey Bystritskiy,
Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the
Valdai Discussion Club
The Valdai Discussion Club was established in 2004. It is named after Lake Valdai, which is located close to Veliky Novgorod, where the Club’s first meeting took place.
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