Prospects for Russia's Cooperation with the Countries of the Middle Eastern and the Mediterranean States

Introduction. To explore and identify further prospects for scientific cooperation with the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean states, which have long-standing cultural and historical ties with Russia, the authors have analysed the publishing and patenting activities of certain countries. The article lists scientific, technological, and humanitarian studies and identifies popular areas of cooperation with Russian institutions. Methods. When forming the array of data, we used Russian information sources, the international system Web of Science, the patent database Questel Orbit and data from the World Intellectual Property Organisation. Based on the applied general scientific methods such as measurement, description of knowledge objects and items (qualitative and quantitative), analysis, synthesis and scientific generalisation, we have identified the leading and applicant countries in terms of patenting activity. Results and Discussion. We analysed the total number of publications and their structure by quartile for the Middle Eastern states. The patenting activity analysis for the Middle Eastern and Mediterranean countries looked at the patents issued and applications (by WIPO technological areas) for inventions submitted in the countries' patent offices in 2010–2020 as well as at the applicants' countries of origin. Conclusion. We have identified foreign scientific, educational and other organisations and business sector institutions in certain Middle Eastern and Mediterranean states that may be considered potential partners of Russian institutions.