ТЕМАТИЧЕСКОЕ ДОСЬЕ Ближний Восток: геополитика, энергетика, «арабская весна» THE MIDDLE EAST IN THE EMERGING GLOBAL ORDER Hans Kцchler Chair of Political Philosophy and Philosophical Anthropology University of Innsbruck Innrain 52, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria The article analyzes the consequences of socio-political transformation in the Arab world for the wider region of the Middle East. <...> After a review of the historical background, the author draws conclusions for world order in the context of a new balance of power. <...> Key words: Arab Spring, political Islam, Middle East conflict, United States, Syria, socio-political transformation, decolonization, world order, balance of power. <...> Roughly three years after the tumultuous events in Tunisia and Egypt, the high expectations raised by Western political commentators, if not the wider international public, in connection with the developments dubbed as “Arab Spring” have proven to be based on illusions or wishful thinking. <...> How else could one explain that those who enthusiastically supported the revolts in Tunisia and Libya kept silent about the violence in Bahrain, to give just one example? <...> In actual fact, the geopolitical rift in the Middle Eastern region and the divisions between the spheres of influence among Shia Iran and Sunni countries (including Turkey) have considerably more determined the respective attitudes vis-а-vis the events of the “Arab Spring” than any commitment to principles of justice or considerations of a new order of peace in the Middle East. <...> Historical context In view of this ideological confusion and the complexity of social and political transformation in the wider region, it seems appropriate to briefly look back at the developments since the last major geopolitical realignment almost a quarter century ago. <...> The region, and in particular the Arab world, has undergone a major process of reshaping that 5 Вестник РУДН, серия Международные отношения, 2014, № 3 was triggered by the sudden, and unexpected, collapse of the Cold War’s bipolar order. <...> Under the new unipolar constellation, the political establishments in the countries of the region found themselves in a situation in which they had lost the political space to maneuver, which they had earlier enjoyed due to the competition between the two superpowers. <...> The period of decolonization that followed World War II was characterized by the rise of an Arab national movement, largely driven by the Palestinian issue that formed the smallest common denominator <...>