Union, that nation and the United States had effectively "taken sides" in the Middle East, with the United States primarily supporting Israel, with secondary support for moderate Arab nations such as Saudi Arabia, and the Soviet Union supporting more radical Arab nations. The situation has been significantly altered with the passing from the scene of the Soviet Union, however. As Straus writes, "the disintegration of the Soviet Union has not only removed the primary political and military backing for such perceived threats as Syria and the Palestine Liberation Organization, but also has created opportunities for Saudi (Arabian) influence-peddling . . . According to U.S. officials, the Saudis picked up the tab for Russia's hosting of the recent Middle East peace talks in Moscow" (Straus, 1992, p. M1).
In other words, with respect to the latter aspect, the influence of the force which was once the Soviet Union has diminished in the Middle East to such an extent that it is negligible. The former republics of the defunct Soviet Union are struggling in early 1992 for their very survival and are in no condition to influence events to any significant degree in the Middle East.
The changing role of the Soviet Union in the Middle East had begun before the collapse of that nation, however, as Taylor notes, with respect to the aftermath of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait: "The 1990 Gulf crisis brought the Soviet Union to the center of major developments in the Middle East in a particularly dramatic way. By aligning with Bush as a principal protector of a 'new world order' . . . Gorbachev effectively terminated earlier attempts by the United States to keep the Soviet Union on the sidelines. This also virtually assured the inclusion of Moscow as a major participant in Arab-Israeli peace processes" (Taylor, 1991, p. 178).
Gorbachev, of course, faced with monumental problems at home at the time, could not afford to have world opinion again...