Abstract: Since the end of the Cold War ,the power comparison between the United States and Russia in the Middle East has been “strong US, weak Russia”. But since sending troops into Syria on September 30 of 2015, Russia has taken a forceful position of involvement in the Middle East and achieved fruitful results, not only boosting its military presence in the Middle East, but also greatly increasing its political influence. Russia is now an important external force influencing political changes in the Middle East. Since taking office as US president, Donald Trump has changed the policy of strategic contraction pursued by his predecessor, Barack Obama, in the Middle East,taking a proactive rather than a stiff approach to further intensify contention with Russia in a bid to reshape and consolidate its position as a top dog in the Middle East. US-Russia contention has led to new geopolitical divisions and realignment as well as profound and complicated changes in geopolitical structure in the Middle East, thus perpetuating US-Russia contention, as the two countries will lock themselves in fierce contention over regional dominance on both military and political battlegrounds. Full text available here.
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