Dmitry R. Zhantiev The Middle East in the 1960s–1970s in the Working Notes of Yevgeny M. Primakov
South Yemen. 1968
Lebanon, Syria. 1973
Lebanon, Syria. 1976

Abstract

The article offers a brief characterization of a unique source — personal working notes of Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov (1925–2012), member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Three parts of the notes are published and introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time. The primary source is presented with academic commentary. A concise overview is provided of Primakov’s journalistic and scholarly activities in a number of Arab countries of the Middle East during the 1960s and 1970s, and the academic value of three sections of his notes is assessed (those devoted to the situation in South Yemen in 1968, the Arab–Israeli War of 1973, and the initial period of the civil war in Lebanon (events of 1976)). A preliminary conclusion is drawn that already at an early stage of the Lebanese civil war Primakov correctly assessed the intentions and potential risks of various scenarios for the development of events for their participants, the predictions that were later confirmed by the course of historical events. The introductory article also notes objective technical difficulties associated with deciphering the original handwritten manuscript of the notes and interpreting the numerous names and abbreviations cited in the text, which leave room for further source studies research.

Keywords:
Y. M. Primakov, Middle East, South Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, foreign policy of the USSR

For сitation:

Zhantiev D.R.  The Middle East in the 1960s–1970s in the Working Notes of Y. M. Primakov // The Historical Reporter. 2025. Vol. LV. P. 10–15. DOI: 10.35549/HR.2025.2025.55.006

Decipherment of Manuscripts

Grigoriy N. Lanskoy

D.Sc.(History), professor of the Departmentbof Foreign Regional Studies at the Faculty of International Relations, Politology and Foreign Regional Studies of Russian StateUniversity for the Humanities. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail:gri_lanskoi@list.ru

SPIN-code: 8055-2095

AuthorID: 364719

Preparation of the Text for Publication, Commentary

Dmitry R. Zhantiev

C.Sc. (History), Associate Professor of Middle and Near East History, Institute of Asian and African Studies, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Moscow, Russian Federation.

e-mail: zdimitry@mail.ru

SPIN-code: 7825-3269

AuthorID: 320761