It is theater shared by two parallel coalitions, i.e. the United States and Europe on the one side, and Russia, Iran and Syria on the other
This September, President Vladimir Putin has, on several occasions including during the Collective Security Treaty Organization summit, voiced Russia's readiness to act against the ISIS as part of a broad coalition ...
... government today.
The Assad government is guilty of terrible crimes. But a gradual evolution of Assad's dictatorship into a responsible government is at least as likely as a battlefield victory of "moderates" over Assad, al-Qaeda, and the Islamic State followed by their gracious acceptance of former enemies into a pluralist, inclusive Syria.
Every country has problems and every country falls short of its ideals. Like the United States, Russia is no exception to this rule. But right or wrong, Russia's positions on international affairs should be taken seriously in the west. Life and death decisions should not be taken lightly. In international affairs as in public health, the precautionary ...
The summit of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) took place on 15 September 2015 amid the Center–2015 Russian military exercise, the year’s most massive event of its kind, which focused on combat against illegal armed groups in the Central Asian dimension. The main theme of the maneuvers was due to predictions that the situation in Central Asia ...
... diplomacy is just another form of diplomacy.
The current spike in Russia’s involvement in Syria, however, does not need to be linked solely to UNGA. Even without it, Moscow would now be sending more weapons and more instructors to Syria. As the Islamic State has expanded its control over more territory in Syria, it has posed more of a threat to the survival of the Russian-backed regime in Damascus. Thus, Moscow’s Plan A now is to help Bashar al-Assad keep his remaining strongholds; its Plan B is to help him secure the Alawite enclave around Latakia.
The Kremlin’s upping the ante in Syria is explained ...
“Islamic State” as a security problem for Russia
Amid the vast ocean of Islamist radicalism, the particular focus given to Islamic State (IS) is merited by its role as the main center of gravity in the transformation of transnational violent jihadism today. Before exploring how this phenomenon ...
... allegiance of the Caucasus Emirate to ISIS substantiate the threats of al-Baghdadi’s fellow-fighters against Azerbaijan and Russia, which have so far refrained from participation in this fight.
At the same time, one of the major challenges for the international ... ... possible dialogue with al-Baghdadi in the future.
The position of a significant number of countries that refrain from fighting the Islamic State for fear of being dragged into risky projects with the United States only predetermines a further strengthening ...
... Gebran Bassil in his interview with Al-Hayat in November 2014: "Lebanon is part of the international coalition against the Islamic State ... as well as other countries that are fighting against terrorism. Our position is to encourage the participation ... ... terrorists from Jund al-Sham and Fatah al-Islam on the other (See:
Middle East and the Present
, # 34, 2008, pp. 267–290
[in Russian]). It is the largest refugee camp, giving shelter to up to 50 thousand Palestinians permanently residing there, and to ...
... other radical group, whose objectives and goals will be similar to those that the Islamic State pursues now. However, this does not mean that we should not combat this movement.
Given the fragile statehood of countries across the post-Soviet space, Russia will also suffer from ISIL activity, as it faces the serious problem posed by its restive borders with Central Asia.
The establishment of a new Islamic state, however radical or moderate it may be, implies bureaucratic procedures, the creation of institutions of power, etc., while IS militants, in fact, are merely “soldiers of fortune” who are involved in armed conflict, but seem ...
Smarter “Smokestack Industries” are essential to the future.
Considered to be developing economies in the “global governance” set-up, Russia and the BRICS know that traditional mainstream media and online propaganda vehicles driven by the “PR is the new journalism” mindset dismiss the reality that iron ore and steel are essential to the future. This means the assignment ...
... sufficient for increasing defense capabilities of the European NATO members in the first place? If not, recent events in Ukraine could merely remain a favorable opportunity for NATO bureaucrats to pretend the alliance still matters, whereby the renewed Russian military doctrine is not that bad. NATO is the number one threat. Anyone surprised?
2. Shall the Islamic State survive?
Undoubtedly, the Islamic State is not just a 'so-called' state. It is not just another hit-and-run bunch of fanatics pretending to be 'biggest and baddest dudes on the block'. Recruitment of new jihadi ...