The Eastern Mediterranean, for years a zone of competition and conflict, is witnessing the first signs of bonhomie among the principal regional states.

Over the last month or so, the shadow of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has loomed large across the Middle East. In March, he visited the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. He was soon back in the region, visiting Egypt and Iran on April 12-13.

The 10-year commemoration of Syria’s bloody civil conflict in March has evoked expressions of anguish and some new diplomatic initiatives.
Nearly half-a-million people have been killed and several million more displaced since the conflict started on March 15, 2011.