The Russian government is not willing to pit its strength against revolutionary changes in any Arab state, for the private life of each nation is inviolable. Nevertheless, almost invariably, the Russian popular media refuses to describe the Arab Spring affirmatively as an awakening of societies. The term itself is rarely used without inverted commas, and most of the times picked up to accentuate the figurativeness of use or to emphasize the negative short-term effect the revolutions have had on societies. On the other hand, the intellectual part of the Russian community holds the oppo-

site view. The majority of scholars agree that the Arab Spring is a positive multidimensional process which emerged as an outburst of public indignation caused by social, political, economic and cultural problems accumulated in the Middle Eastern region throughout the decades (e.g. see Naumkin and Popov 2012). But the appraisals by both analysts and the government do not idealize or extol, for in the near future the communities of the region will go through an uneven period of transition (interview with Marina Sapronova, 10 April 2013). The accomplishment of an initial stage of revolutions only means the beginning of a profound perennial reboot of the social mechanisms. Prior to the analysis of specific cases, a few remarks should be made on present-day

Russian foreign policy. Russian specialists agree that the roots of the drive, referred to as the Arab Spring, are deeper than the rise of national self-consciousness or the search for self-identification; rather, it grows out of paramount necessity for a change in the world. The notorious End of the History never came. It turned out by virtue of infamous causes that a single superpower is unable to provide the whole world with a solid economic and ideological foundation. In Russia’s case the model of behaviour, dictated by the fall of Soviet Empire, is also played out. Russia alongside the rest of the world is in need of a new worldview. This is clearly depicted in the Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation (2013) as the following:

Rapid acceleration of global processes and growing new trends in global development require new approaches and a new vision of priorities, taking into account Russia’s increased responsibility for setting the international agenda and shaping the system of international relations.