By: Middle East Times – News World Communications Inc.

Amid the wave of optimism for a new dawn that has understandably swept the United States and the wider world following the election victory of President-elect Barack Obama, a far more somber, hard truth has also emerged: Russia is back in the Middle East.

NOT ON OBAMA HIGH — The Russians are certainly not scaling back their activities and ambitions in the expectation of an “era of good feelings” with President-elect Obama. Photo shows Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Nov. 6 (UPI)

Russia is now expected to reopen its two naval bases at Tartus and Latakia in Syria that it operated throughout the Cold War. Such a move could protect Syria from the threat of any preemptive Israeli air strikes since the Israelis would be wary of hitting Russian installations by mistake, and the vastly superior Russian radar systems in any warships at either base would give Syria significantly increased warning of any such attack.

An advanced Russian naval squadron has been visiting the Mediterranean. While it is no match for the U.S. Sixth Fleet, it is still vastly superior in firepower to any other national navy operating in the region.

Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi has offered Russia the use of a Libya port for its warships in the Mediterranean and Gadhafi has just toured the capitals of Russia, Belarus and even pro-American Ukraine seeking to purchase a new generation of weapons. The Russians are quietly confident they can beat out their hostile Ukrainian rivals and reliably subservient Belorussian allies.

The growing Russian presence in the Middle East was already apparent when oil prices were soaring to their record high of $147 per barrel, but Russia’s military moves to show the flag in the region have only accelerated since the global oil price has plunged to around $60 a barrel following the Wall Street financial crisis.

Russia’s relations with Syria and Libya, who were Soviet allies for many decades through the Cold War, have been warming up and Russian relations with Iran remain fundamentally excellent, as witnessed by the Russian willingness to supply Iran with nuclear technology.

Also, Russia is actively pursuing the possibility of creating a new global “gas OPEC” – a global natural gas cartel with Qatar and Iran as its two first partners.

The increased Russian military presence in the region discredits several recently fashionable theories. First, Russia has not merely been content to take advantage of outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush‘s unpopularity in the region.

Second, by the same token, the Russians are certainly not scaling back their activities and ambitions in the expectation of an “era of good feelings” with President-elect Obama.

Nor has the collapse in global oil prices and weakening of the Russian economy removed the Kremlin’s taste for power projection in our region.

Finally, Russia is not losing interest in the Middle East in favor of stepping up its military presence in the Arctic to assure its access to the continental shelf’s natural resources that global warming is increasingly making available there.

The Brave New World that Obama and his many admirers hope to create will still have to recognize and deal with many intractable problems and challenges remaining from the Tough Old World we have known for so long.