Vladimir Putin is, bit by bit, seeking to rebuild the glory and the power that he believes was the Soviet Union. The USSR was a large player in the Middle East. Today, the sole physical inheritance from those years is the leased docking facilities at Tartus, on Syria's northern coast. After the evacuation of the Soviet bases in Egypt's Alexandria and Mersa Matruh in the late 1970s, Tartus remains Russia's only foothold on the Mediterranean. Though views differ on how vital it is – it's too small to host Moscow's larger warships – the port remains an important supply point.
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