RSS

Contact us

Friday 18 July 2008

Iran has declared war on the rest of the world

Douglas Davis says that this conflict can be traced back to the transport via Damascus of a lethal consignment of weapons from Tehran to Hezbollah

Much is riding on the outcome of the current conflict, not only for Israel but also for the rest of the world. Three important battles are now being played out in the context of the Israeli–Hezbollah–Hamas conflict. Each will have far-reaching international implications — for US–Russian relations, for Iran’s nuclear ambitions and, not least, for the globalised Islamic challenges that confront a slew of states in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East itself.

It was no surprise that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin hummed a distinctly different tune from that of his American guest at the G8 summit in St Petersburg last weekend. Over the past two years Russia has quietly moved from a position of co-operation with the United States to one of rivalry. While Mr Putin expressed himself in more nuanced terms than did his Soviet predecessors, the former KGB officer is staking a claim to superpower status –—bolstered by billions of dollars in oil and gas revenues — and to an independent position on a variety of international issues, including Middle East ones.

This was confirmed by Professor Stephen Blank in a major report published last month by the Conflict Studies Research Centre at the Defence Academy of the UK. Russian policy in the Middle East, says the professor, is increasingly animated by a determination to check American power and influence in the region. This determination is driven in equal measure by a ‘fierce desire’ for global-power status and recognition. And while the Russians are using the language and grammar of multipolarity, their policies are essentially no less unilateral than those of the US.

Quite apart from the fate of Mr Putin’s grand ambitions, the outcome of the exchanges across the Israeli–Lebanese border will provide Mr Ahmadinejad with a clear indicator of just how much (or, perhaps, how little) room he has for manoeuvre in his drive to become a full member of the ‘nuclear club’.

More articles from: Douglas Davis | this section

Print this article  |  Email to a friend  |  Permalink  |   Comment

Post this entry to:   del.icio.us | Digg | Newsvine | NowPublic | Reddit

Advertisement

Spectator Business | Apollo Magazine

Corporate | Advertising | Privacy | Terms

Spectator, 22 Old Queen Street, London, SW1H 9HP

All Articles and Content Copyright ©2008 by The Spectator | All Rights Reserved