Audio: The Ukraine Crisis – It’s Overflow Impact on the Middle East. KGNU, Hemispheres, Middle East Dialogues; Jim Nelson, Producer. Tuesday, February 22, 2022

Ibrahim Kazerooni and Rob Prince discuss in the impact of the Ukraine crisis on Middle East politics

The tensions in the Ukraine between NATO/US and Russia continue to heat up. While Ukraine’s fate will influence Europe in more ways than appear, the crisis there is also impacting events in the Middle East and Central Asia, referred to as the “Arc of Instability”, which, although not shown on the map above, is just below. Recently there has been an uptick in tensions throughout the Middle East, Israeli attacks on Syria – and a Syria (unreported) missile response on Galilee, Turkish encouragement to use its mercenary proxies in Idlib province to complicate matters, no end to the Yemen War in site and the possibility that should the Ukraine crisis blow up, that the price of oil and natural gas will explode. The fate of Ukraine – and linked to it, the future of the Nord Stream II pipeline from Russia to Germany, will also greatly influence Middle East politics.