... to
Al Qaeda
which was pre-millenarian. By the same token, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi independently developed a form of jihad that was ... ... and persecuted. With this support, they established a network in Syria and Iraq which eventually became the Caliphate.
The third ... ... This allowed them to build a mechanism that would lead to the Islamic State and to the Caliphate which was proclaimed in June ... ... foreign boots on the ground: the 2015 JCPOA agreement allowed Russia to increase presence in Syria and send forces to Khmeimim,...
Relations between the U.S. and Russia appear to be almost at the point of no return
Relations ... ... that directly impact domestic politics and popular attitudes. Accusations of interference in the electoral systems raise questions ... ... Europeans and Russia generally agree on the need to control the Islamic State. However, there has been a significant lack of coordination ... ... Then, in early April 2017, the U.S. fired 59 cruise missiles at Syrian airbase on grounds that the Syrian military had allegedly ...
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 Russian experts in Moscow, there are multiple reasons why the Kremlin will not. They range from concerns about future chaos in Syria in the aftermath of regime change to the damage that would be inflicted on Russia's reputation ...
Can Russia and the U.S. control their proxies?
Syria ceasefire deal, announced on September 9, 2016 after marathon talks between Russia and the United States, has been labelled ... ... situation in their favor. As of now, there are only two organizations that everyone agrees to view as terrorists in Syria: the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Greater Syria (ISIS)
and Jabhat Fateh ash-Sham (former Jabhat an-Nusra).
REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque ...
The Syrian army finally regained control over Palmyra, one of the key strategic cities in ... ... Palmyra.
This historic area is somewhat isolated, being located far away from the major Islamic State-controlled territories along the Euphrates. With many sources of IS funding... ... suburbs to send extra forces to east Homs and launch a military operation in Palmyra.
Russia’s role in this offensive was crucial. Until spring 2016, only a few Russian...
... Euro-Atlantic region, the terroristic attacks in Paris on November are forcing the West and Russia to become allies in the fight against Islamic state of Iraq and Syria. Was it the opportunity for Putin to reconstruct geopolitical balance? The answer is definitely yes. However, Andrew Weiss (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) stated that: “Cooperation against terrorism between USA and Russia was always problematic due to the lack of confidence between our secretive agencies”. The politician Harry Kasparov ...
... policy rules, Riyadh decided to increase its U.S. lobbying USD 3.66 billion.
EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI
Boris Dolgov, Omar Mahmood:
The Syrian Conflict: Russian and GCC
Perspectives
The U.S. allies largely share the same needs, i.e. security guarantees plus more aggressive political ... ... conflicts. But the Americans are holding their ground, with the State Department laconically responding “the Saudi refusal is their own business.” However, analysts believe that Riyadh gave up its UNSC position over fears of failure in its ...
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 ... ... US-led coalition in its present form John Kerry said that Washington would welcome Moscow’s contribution to fight the Islamic State if the military campaign was “genuine” and not aimed at only helping Assad.
First reports of Russian ...
There is no doubt that Moscow understands that Syria will no longer be the way it once was, neither in terms of government nor borders.... ... the country will be governed in the future.
The first substantive meeting between the Russian and US presidents turned out to be as successful as it possibly could. The two... ... common enemy. The fact that both leaders are speaking about a coalition to combat the Islamic State points to different, not coinciding, approaches, since the two have their...
If Assad falls, will he be replaced by the "right" people?
Russia's diplomatic and material support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been universally condemned by western governments ... ... and no one can ever know what might have been. What we do know is that hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives, millions of people live in fear, and a generation... ... internally displaced. Western Europe is inundated with assylum-seekers. The barbaric Islamic State organization has flourished.
Like the Saddam, Gaddafi, and Mubarak regimes...
