... to the one it experienced in the 19th century. And there will be a special session on the Middle East.
It appears that the theme for this meeting, war and peace, was chosen a long time ago. Have the recent events such as Russia’s involvement in Syrian conflict influenced the conference agenda?
No, they haven’t. On the contrary, they showed that we were right to choose the theme of war and peace. Actually, war and peace has long become the governing theme in the modern world, what with ...
Operation Inherent Resolve Russian-Style
Russia’s admittedly highly unusual military operation in Syria is rightly in the global media’s crosshairs, with most analysts trying either to uncover Moscow's hidden objectives or forecast the mission’s outcomes.
Deploying an air force contingent beyond national borders (especially in a distant ...
Syria and especially Ukraine appear to be inflection points in the trajectory of Russian foreign policy
Ivan Timofeev, who participated in the annual meeting of Valdai International Discussion Club is giving a talk on the outline of future Russian foreign ...
... für Auswärtige Politik, the Brookings Institution, Johns Hopkins University, Centre for European Policy Studies, RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, IMEMO, Lomonosov Moscow State University and other institutions, who focused on the Ukraine and Syria crises.
The Ukraine discussion
covered:
— Attitudes of Russia, the EU and the U.S.A. on Ukraine's future, including prospects of settlement, reinstatement of territorial integrity and healing the civil war consequences.
—
Steps ...
The nightly news on Russia's state-run television is full of the whine of jet engines as warplanes launch sorties from a dusty airfield in Syria. Russia has just over 30 fixed-wing combat planes in Syria. The Ministry of Defense says these planes are flying dozens of missions every day.
Russia's bombing campaign in Syria has entered its third week, and military officials are claiming daily ...
Arms versus Assad
The recent series of top-level talks between the Russian and Saudi leaderships, as well as the huge promises of Saudi investments in Russia have been interpreted by
some
as a path leading to a narrower convergence on Syria. However, this argument may well contain some wishful thinking, and leave out the key factors of the bilateral relationship.
The fact that top-level Saudi officials visited Vladimir Putin in Sochi on October, 11, 2015 revealed the Kingdom’s ...
The intensification of the conflict in the Middle East, the operation by Russian Aerospace Defence Forces in the Syrian Arab Republic and the diametrically opposed positions of state leaders in relation to the current president Bashar al-Asad continue to be the main events on the agenda. Damascus has become the epicentre of a global political process and a trial ...
... General Andrey Kortunov, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Brookings Institution President Strobe Talbott, as well as several retired U.S. officials and diplomats.
The discussants focused on possible Russian-American interaction within the Syrian conflict and the war against the ISIS, resumption of consultations on political transition in Syria and prospects for new security system for the Middle East, as well as various aspects of the Ukraine crisis, including possible augmentation of ...
The goals of the operation
Two days after
Vladimir Putin’s speech
at the UN General Assembly in New York Russia launched an anti-terrorist campaign in Syria. Nothing in the President’s speech indicated that Russia would go ahead with air strikes in the country, let alone launch them so soon. While the decision followed Bashar Al Assad’s request for Russia’s assistance there is no doubt ...
... are able to strike anywhere, including Russia itself.
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) October 2nd, 2015
@ValkryV
Originally published on LinkedIn Pulse
AMMAN — Anyone who’s been paying attention to the Syrian vortex of death, and Russia’s role in this vortex, knows that Putin’s motivations are not terribly difficult to understand and are, in fact, obvious. They generally run on three levels:
1.) Preserve the regime of Bashar al-Assad, ...
