ALEXEY VASILIEV, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Often, a person who has done a lot in his life and has risen to great heights, by old age becomes a monument to himself. He no longer speaks, but utters, does not walk, but carries himself, does not come anywhere, but appears, perceives someone else's opinion or someone else's logic with a grin, and more often simply dismisses it. Academician Yevgeny Maksimovich Primakov is not like that. I categorically state, including on the basis of my own experience: he did not turn pink, although he reached the top in any of his chosen fields of activity - politics, science, literature. His place in politics is not even discussed. It is unlikely that it can be evaluated more succinctly than V. V. Putin did at a friendly meeting on the occasion of the previous anniversary - Primakov's 80th birthday, saying: "Russia has repeatedly found itself on the edge of a precipice in its history. But there were always Primakovs who pushed it away from this edge. This was the main role played by Evgeny Maksimovich in the history of Russia." Do I need to add anything? This was in the recent past. But to this day, Primakov expresses opinions and assessments concerning the fate of Russia, which are carefully studied and discussed. I will stop at the place of Evgeny Maksimovich in our workshop of Orientalists and Middle Eastern scholars. He has written two dozen books, not to mention countless articles. But of all of them, I would single out the unique "Confidential: The Middle East on Stage and behind the scenes"*. It has gone through two editions and been translated into a dozen languages. There was no such book, and there will never be, because the author was a participant in the main political events of the region for several decades. He personally knew the biggest Arab leaders of the era. In the book, he combined scientific knowledge with an understanding of human psychology, the Arab and Israeli mentality, taking into account ... Read more