MOSCOW, March 29 (Itar-Tass) – Dr Yevgeny Primakov, a veteran of the Russian foreign policy and a former prime minister, has presented a new edition of his book ‘The Middle East: On the Stage and Behind the Scenes’.
“The necessity for reediting the book has been caused by the captivating events that are taking place in the region,” he said.
“The first version of the book dealt with the second half of the 20th century, and a look in retrospect is necessary now to understand what’s happening these days,” Primakov said. “As he turned to history, he recalled that the impact of neo-Conservative thinking had prompted the U.S. to take a course at building a unipolar world.”
“The policy of so-called “interventiolism” produced the situation in Iraq,” he said.
As he spoke about the events of the 21st century, he said Libya and Syria did not fit the line and logic of the ‘Arab spring’ from the very start.
“The insurgency there took on an armed character right from the very beginning,” Dr Primakov said. “In Bahrain, for instance, the events developed in a sporadic manner, while with Syria and Libya the U.S. tried to grab control of the situation, and in the final run the Americans got into the same boat with the /Islamic/ radicals.”
Answering a question about the time when he had gotten the idea of writing the book, Dr Primakov said jokingly: “I wouldn’t say I was pondering its plan when I enrolled for the Institute of Oriental Studies sixty years ago.”
The new book contains a number of previously classified documents that have been released to the public at Dr Primakov’s personal request. The text also includes many assessments of the meetings he has had with the major regional leaders.