The Soviet Union pursued an ambitious grand strategy throughout the world, including in the Middle East. But with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Moscow's ability to pursue a grand strategy anywhere in the world – including the Middle East – declined drastically. However, since Vladimir Putin first rose to power at the turn of the century, Moscow has been pursuing an increasingly ambitious grand strategy worldwide – including, once again, in the Middle East.

Putin's grand strategy toward the Middle East resembles Soviet grand strategy toward the region in the sense that both then and now, Moscow has regarded the Middle East as an important arena of competition with the United States of America (USA) and the West more broadly. Putin, though, has approached this competition with the USA and the West in a very different way than the Soviets did. During the Cold War era, the Soviets pursued this larger geopolitical struggle with America and the West in the Middle East through allying with “progressive” anti-American regimes there at odds with the region's pro-American “reactionary” ones. The Soviets welcomed the downfall of pro-American regimes as opportunities for gaining new allies when they were replaced (as they usually were) by anti-American ones. The Soviets also seized upon American support for Israel as an opportunity to make common cause with all the Arab and Muslim governments and public opinion that objected to this.

Putin, by contrast, has sought good relations with all Middle Eastern governments – including America's longstanding Arab allies and Turkey. Far from welcoming the downfall of pro-American governments in the region as the Soviets did, Moscow proclaims Russia as the defender of the status quo in the Middle East while describing the USA as disrupting it through its support for “democratization” and regime change. And under Putin, Moscow has developed close relations with Israel with no apparent ill effect on its relations with Arab governments, Turkey, or even Iran. Compared to his Soviet predecessors, Putin is pursuing his competition with the USA in the Middle East in a very different way indeed!