Russia may have met its match in Libya

The past half-decade has seen Russia re-enter the Middle East arena more forcefully than at any time since the collapse of the Soviet Union nearly 30 years ago. As it strives to reassert itself in a region where its influence was once second only to that of the United States, Moscow has used its largely successful military intervention in the Syrian civil war to bolster its status, signing new political and military deals with countries ranging from Egypt and Jordan to Iraq, Turkey and Iran. This seemingly unstoppable rise and the prospect of Vladimir Putin’s Russia becoming a bona fide rival in the Middle East has caused alarm among US policymakers and analysts. But by wading into one...