Russian War on Ukraine and its Consequences for Food Security in the Middle East

Abstract

The Ukraine crisis which is currently the most serious in Russian-Western relations, openly antagonistic over the past year, it has emerged as just another evidence that the multicentric post-bipolar world is heavily influenced by the balance of evolving between two opposing sides. A bipolar side is a new one that will be completely different from the East-West dipole that existed before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Unlike the East-West confrontation, it will be bipolar within the same economic system – a confrontation between liberal capitalism and authoritarian (or sovereign) capitalism, which “melts” within the multipolar world.

The conflict in Ukraine has three interrelated dimensions – global, regional and local – which have profound impact on international security, including for the Black Sea/Mediterranean region. This is even more so, since outside of Europe the situation does not improve. The Arab uprising has brought about profound changes and is somewhat unstable in terms of security and economy in a turbulent region.