RISE AND FALL: THE SOVIET UNION`S GRAND STRATEGY Towards the Middle East and the Third World 1917–1991

From Lenin’s vision of global revolution to Gorbachev’s strategic withdrawal from the Global South, the USSR viewed the Middle East as a pivotal arena for ideological contestation and geopolitical influence. This book traces the rise, zenith, and eventual decline of the Soviet Red Star in the Middle East, offering a comprehensive historical and conceptual analysis of the Soviet Union’s grand strategy in the Middle East from 1917 to 1991. Drawing on extensive archival research from Polish, Ukrainian, NATO, and Soviet-era sources – as well as employing a multidisciplinary approach grounded in strategic studies, international relations, and Cold War historiography – this study uncovers the ideological, geopolitical, military, and economic dimensions of Soviet engagement in the region. In doing so, it also reveals the ongoing relevance of this history for Russia’s contemporary engagement in the Middle East and beyond, especially in the light of Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Dr Ridvan Bari Urcosta is a lecturer at the University of Warsaw’s Department of Strategic Studies and International Security, where he earned his PhD in Security Studies in 2022. His doctoral thesis focused on the Soviet Union’s Grand Strategy towards the Middle East and the Global South, analysing both the geopolitical and ideological aspects of that strategy. He teaches courses titled ‘Russia from the Middle East to the Global South’, ‘Future Warfare’, ‘European Institutions’, and ‘International Military Relations’. In addition to his academic role, Dr Urcosta is an analyst at Geopolitical Futures (formerly Stratfor), a US-based think tank, where he specialises in the Eurasia region. Between March and July 2025, he was a research fellow at the NATO Defence College, Rome. Urcosta’s research project was dedicated to the development of the concept of Singularity Warfare and the applications of cutting-edge technologies (drones and AI) in the Russo-Ukrainian War. He also worked for the Polish think tank ‘Strategy and Future’ for four years. Dr Urcosta was born in Abkhazia, Georgia.