Abstract
In terms of its portfolio of contracts and actual deliveries, Russia has for a long time been the world’s second-largest arms supplier after the United States. Over the past few years Asia Pacific has been the biggest destination of Russian arms exports, accounting for 55-57 percent of the overall figure. The Middle East is second with 14.2 percent, followed by northern and northeastern Africa with 12.7 percent. In 2012, Russia exported about 15.2 billion dollars’ worth of weapons, of which the Middle East accounted for about 20 percent. But, the ongoing military and political developments in the Middle East and North Africa are putting growing pressure on the regional balance of Russia’s defense exports. It has already become clear that the share of Middle Eastern countries in these exports is sliding. This has already been recognized by Russian officials. Let us therefore look more closely at this situation in order to identify its possible consequences.
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