... and opened fire on the crowd, shooting to kill; three people were killed on the spot and another died later of injuries. Next day, a mass rebellion against the central government broke out in Daraa to quickly spread to neighbouring towns and villages.
Russia and the EU in Syria: Need for New Approaches? RIAC Working Paper?
Had I been told back then, in March 2011, that the civil war in Syria would still be raging ten years later, I would not have believed it. The mid-19th century American Civil War ...
... rivalry. There are new nuclear missiles, cyber- and biotechnologies, "hybrid wars," and the consequences of all these trends are not yet entirely clear, which makes this rivalry far more dangerous than the USSR-US confrontation.
Andrey Kortunov:
Russian Foreign Policy in the Middle East: Achievements and Limitations
Thus far, it is difficult to say confidently what direction these developments will take and whether they will become a turning point. In any case (and here Russian and Western analysts ...
... tools, including sanctions, reconstruction funding and any political legitimation remain tied to this end. Key European governments continue to hope that these cards can be used to extract compromises out of Damascus.
RIAC Report “Squaring the Circle: Russian and European Views on Syrian Reconstruction”
For some European governments the path to possible progress also depends on Russia, which is seen as being the only player that can force Assad to shift position. But while European officials are ...
Putin’s Syrian intervention was limited to areas around the port of Tartus and the Latakia air base, both heavily upgraded by Russia. His aim was not a full occupation, but a gradual expansion of a strategic corridor from Damascus to Aleppo. He did not fear US repercussions. Obama’s 2013 red line back-step had convinced him the president would be passive in the face of aggression....
The central issue of Wednesday's meetings in Moscow was whether Russia would give in. An immediate change of policy was obviously not on the cards since it is not in Putin's nature to make sudden concessions under pressure. But will he gradually and incrementally pull the rug from under the Syrian president?
According ...
... to eradicate in his inauguration speech. Make America War Again Trump has somersaulted a full 180 degrees to capitulate to America’s Wahhabi lobby, led by the likes John McCain, Lyndsey Graham and Hillary Clinton. Any deviation from this norm was considered a Russian plot. However, when those Tomahawks were launched on April 6, Washington had magically found a president for all Americans; one who was no longer a budding dictator, a new Hitler or a Putin shill! Gone too would be Trump’s vows to eradicate ...
The Crisis Group recently released a
briefing
on Russia’s partial pull-back of forces from Syria, its implications on the ceasefire as well as on Moscow’s wider strategy in this conflict. Analyzing Russia’s latest actions in Syria, including the ceasefire deal and partial withdrawal ...
Interests and opportunities
The Middle East has always had a special meaning for Russia. The area provides access to the Mediterranean Sea, linking Russia with the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean, the Middle East, North Africa. Any threat of war, a concentration of foreign armies, civil wars in the states located there, conflicts ...
Because the initial strikes by the Russian Air Force were not targeted only against ISIS, it became clear that the operation has also been meant to support the Syrian Arab Army of President Bashar Assad and stabilize the frontline. Meanwhile, restoring Damascus’s control over the whole of Syrian territory seems unlikely.
Russian military involvement in the Syrian conflict has sparked the ire of regional actors, primarily Saudi Arabia and Turkey who have seen their interests infringed upon. However, the Saudis continue to arm the Syrian antigovernment forces trying to ...
