Strategy&Future

Jacek Bartosiak and Albert Świdziński talk about Middle East.

In the near future nobody is going to establish international rules for the different types of UAVs. The proliferation of drone technologies and their decreasing prices on the global market are going to continue.

Israel has responded to the activities of the militants in Lebanon and Palestine by developing a genuinely sophisticated system of UCAVs which encompass strategic, medium-size and tactical drones. In the Gaza sector, Israel is searching for a way to create the right drone for conducting war or tactical special operations in an urban area with minimisation of civilian casualties. The best example so far is the Ninox family of drones, which is produced by the Israeli-American company “Spear”.

“For example, the first thing many people often ask is: ‘What weapon should I use in my operation?’ But the answer to this question – and it’s an important question – is not as difficult as it may seem. The Mujahid Brother Nidal Hasan used firearms in his assault on Fort Hood, but the fact is, today’s Mujahid is no longer limited to bullets and bombs when it comes to his choice of a weapon. As the blessed operations of September 11th showed, a little imagination and planning and a minimal budget can turn almost anything into a deadly, effective and convenient weapon which can take the enemy by surprise and deprive him of sleep for years on end.” Adam Yahiye Gadahn, American spokesperson of al-Qaeda, 2010

Egypt in the Russian agenda plays the most important role for the Middle East and Africa, and the cooperation seems to be increasing in 2021. During the Cold War, Egypt was the most precious diamond in the Middle East for Moscow. It was lost after the death of Nasser and the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and finally in 1978 when the Camp David Accords were signed. Since then, Moscow has had to be satisfied in the company of the marginal regimes in Syria and Libya. Only in recent decades has the situation significantly changed due to the geopolitical events in 2011, the Arab Spring, and its titanic implications to the region.

“In Baghdad, the capital city, you will see street merchants selling exactly the same kind of pottery that their ancestors sold at the time of the Arabian Nights. Not far away, you will see great dams and modern refineries equal to the best you have seen in America. If you happen to be sent to the oil fields, you will discover miracles of modern engineering construction side by side with primitive refineries built 2,000 years ago and still in operation…