... like it or not, the West, including Europe, are on the losing side of the conflict in Syria and this automatically limits leverage
During the 11
th
EU–Russia Expert Network on Foreign Policy (EUREN)
meeting
, Andrea Dessì,
Senior Fellow... ... he expects from the Syrian constitution talks, how the U.S. is exerting pressure on Iran via sanctions and what the EU and Russia have in common when it comes to the Middle... ... U.S. raid. What do you make of his death and what consequences could that have for ISIS and international terrorism as a whole?
Andrey Kortunov, Michel Duclos:
Helping...
... how to cope with three recent developments that call for significant adjustments in the Russian strategy.
First, the defeat of ISIS, which is definitely a positive development for everybody engaged in Syria and in neighboring countries, has an important downside. Old regional rivalries, animosities, fears and conflicts that were put aside in order to fight the common enemy, are back to stage. It might become increasingly difficult for Russia to forge even tactical alliances in the region, not to mention strategic coalitions.
Second, the current Israeli-Iranian and US — Iranian rift immensely complicates Russia’s role as an ‘honest broker’ in the region. Neither Israel,...
... at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, RIAC expert, and Vasily Kuznetsov, Director of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies at the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies, RIAC expert, represented Russia at the meeting. Iranian side was represented by the following speakers: Mahmud Shuri, Fellow for Russian Studies, IRAS, and Hassan Ahmadian, Research Fellow, IRAS.
Experts name the Syrian crisis and its resolution among the key factors for the future setting of the entire Middle East. The parties noted that the existence of ISIS had been uniting players with very different interests for the sake of one goal.
The victory over ISIS deprived ...
... obliterated many of the rebel strongholds, most notably (and most tragically) Aleppo, and ISIS, too, has been severely weakened, facing its final days in Mosul, Iraq, one of... ... strongholds, and in the process of being encircled in its other stronghold in Raqqa, Syria, its “capital;” furthermore, not only does Assad’s government have the active of support of the Shiite Lebanese militia Hezbollah and of Iran’s military on the ground (among other Shiite militias), but it also enjoys the robust military support of Russia and its vaunted air force. And even though Assad’s military has been whittled...
... a lot more for Saudi Arabia than a new alliance with Russia ever could. In general, Russia hardly has a strong position in the Middle East; Putin's desperation to help Assad, his one main ally in the region (it would be a stretch to say that Iran and Russia are general allies even as they are allies in the Syrian Civil War), even at the expense of empowering ISIS, is a reflection of this weakness. And as Putin cozies up to dictators like Assad and Sisi, he risks severely undermining any chance of real long-term gains where he and Russians seek them the most: in Europe. Democracy-loving Europe will not sit ...
