Academician Yevgeny Primakov is one of the most prominent figures in Russian political life. Primakov was the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Incredibly popular, he was even considered the most likely candidate for president of the country. Leonid Mlechin's book tells about the secret missions of Yevgeny Primakov in the Middle East. These include meetings with the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Georges Habash, who became famous for his high-profile terrorist attacks, and mediation between the Kurdish leader Mustafa Barzani and the Iraqi government, and his unofficial visits to Israel after the rupture of diplomatic relations between the USSR and this country, and the preparation of negotiations between Syria and Iraq, between Egypt and Israel. Having headed Russian intelligence, Primakov not only prevented its integration into the general structure of state security, but also returned the elite intelligence service to its former power, and not only formulated a new doctrine that abolished the fight against “world imperialism on all fronts” and was reduced to the priority of national interests , but also modernized the SVR, placing the main emphasis on analytics.