What does the Russian invasion of Ukraine mean for the Middle East? First, it turned 2022 into a year of food insecurity for millions, as bread shortages proliferated when half of Ukraine wheat was taken off the market by the war. Yemen, Lebanon, Egypt and Iran were all deeply affected, with a potential for political instability, as we saw in 2010-2011 when wheat prices also spiked. Second, the war repositioned US grand strategy back toward central and eastern Europe, where it had been focused during the Cold War 1946-1991. This development implied less US attention toward the Middle East, as well as greater emphasis on the ways in which Middle Eastern oil and gas could replace Russian exports for Europe. The stock of Gulf countries like Qatar soared. Whereas the Biden administration had bad relations with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, by spring of 2022 Biden’s emissaries were going hat in hand to ask for help with offsetting Russian energy exports. The impact on Iran was mixed. The US needed a return to the JCPOA more than ever, again to bring Iranian oil and gas online to replace boycotted Russian supplies. Questions arose of how cooperative Russia itself would be in restoring the treaty, however. My comments will focus on these topics.