Global Powers and Regional Instability: The Influence of External Actors on the Geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean

The relevance of the topic is due to the growing role of the Eastern Mediterranean as a strategic region where the interests of global powers and regional actors intersect, which forms a complex system of interaction and competition and directly affects global security. The subject of the article is the influence of external actors on the level of regional instability and the dynamics of conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean. The purpose of the study is to examine the mechanisms of global powers’ influence on political, economic, and security processes in the region, as well as to identify the factors that increase or reduce the level of conflict. The research tasks include analyzing the political strategies of key actors, identifying the main factors of destabilization, and assessing the dual effect of external presence (stabilizing and destabilizing). The research methods include system analysis – to determine the role of the Eastern Mediterranean in contemporary geopolitics; comparative analysis of political strategies – to identify common and distinctive elements of global powers’ approaches; and analysis of official statistics, declarations, and open sources – to formalize the cause-and-effect relationships between the actions of external actors and the level of regional tension. The results of the study show that the presence of the United States, Russia, and China in the Eastern Mediterranean takes place through military bases, economic projects, and diplomatic alliances, which both support stability and create new sources of conflict. The analysis reveals that competition in the fields of security and energy, as well as the escalation of territorial disputes, increases regional tensions and complicates the search for compromises. The conclusions state that the dual nature of external influence requires the development of new approaches to international cooperation, aimed at multilateral dispute resolution, strengthening the role of international organizations, and forming innovative models of cooperation. The obtained results serve as a basis for the practical activities of international institutions and state structures to reduce regional tensions and to elaborate effective strategies for the interaction of external actors.