The Middle East firsthand
The Middle East firsthand is a program aimed at studying the history of Soviet and Russian diplomacy in the Middle East. We seek to look at the Middle East policy of our country, analyze its successes and failures, discuss the relations between heads of state and diplomats, and learn firsthand the truth about the events that we know about from history books.

The central figures of the program are former Soviet and Russian ambassadors to the Middle East and North Africa.

Language: Russian
Alexander Aksenenok on the work in Syria and Algeria
We devoted the first episode to a discussion about the Soviet Union’s relations with Syria and Algeria. How did Hafiz al-Assad feel about the USSR? What does Alexander Aksenenok consider his merit as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russia to Algeria? And how were the negotiations between Yevgeny Primakov and Saddam Hussein conducted in the late 1970s?
These and other questions were answered by the guest of the program, Alexander Aksenenok, who worked for 20 years in the embassies of our country in the Middle East.
©2024 Primakov Center
Address: Moscow, 105 064,
10 Yakovoapostolsky Lane, building 1
primakov-center@yandex.ru