Russian policy in the Patriarchate of Antioch from the 1840s to 1914: ‘soft power’ in Syria and Lebanon
Author: Lora Gerd
Publisher/Publication: Contemporary Levant
Volume/Issue: 6(1)
DOI/ISBN: 10.1080/20581831.2021.1881715
After the Crimean War, Russian imperialism was opposed to the Greek Great Idea in the Balkans and the Middle East; in Syria and Palestine Russian church policy was based on support for the Arabs. All methods of ‘soft power’ were aimed at putting Syria and Lebanon under Russian control. This article investigates whether the policy of Arabisation could have brought about stability in the region, and whether it really contributed to the realisation of the idea of Orthodox unification under Russian control.
