Russia-US security competition in the Middle East 2015-2020

Russia-US security rivalry is growing sharply in areas such as Eastern Europe (Ukraine crisis), the Middle East (Syria crisis). The Middle East region has become a priority in Russia's foreign policy since 2015 with the serious Russian military presence in Syria. The main question of the present study is what effect has the security rivalry between Russia and the United States in the Middle East had on the security order in the Middle East? The research hypothesis is that the Middle East, especially the Persian Gulf, has a special place in the US security strategy. Russia's efforts to infiltrate the region over the past two decades have intensified US-Russian security rivalries, pushing security arrangements in the region toward a multipolar (balanced / unbalanced) order. Using the theoretical framework of Mersheimer's aggressive realism, the security rivalry between Russia and the United States in the Middle East was examined. The data collection method is library and the research method is analytical. The findings of the study suggest that Russia's re-entry into the Middle East has intensified US-Russian security competition, leading to a shift in security arrangements in the Middle East toward an unbalanced multipolar order.