...
Ankara can count on some trump cards in its game with Moscow. Maybe, as in 2018 and in 2019, it will succeed in obtaining Moscow’s favorably neutral stance. It may use such “aces up its sleeve” as re-opening an air corridor through Turkey into Syria that Turkey
closed on April 23
; or else, it may block NATO warships’ passage into the Black Sea no matter how hard NATO tries to push Turkey into revoking its prohibition under various pretexts. Finally, another trump card may be Turkey’s refusal to accede to anti-Russian sanctions.
In the current situation, a conflict with Turkey may turn out to be too costly for Moscow, while direct opposition to Turkey’s plans (primarily if Damascus insists on it) may result in Ankara changing its approaches ...
The Kremlin succeeded in making its presence in Syria stable, financially affordable and generally acceptable to the Russian public. The White House failed to do the same in Afghanistan
The U.S. intervention in Afghanistan was launched in October 2001 to be nearly two decades long. Russia’s military ...
The situation in Syria has not been resolved and is not yet close to a geopolitical equilibrium
The world community survived the UN vote on the mechanism for delivering cross-border aid to Syria. On the agenda was the issue of the Bab al-Hawa checkpoint, which stopped ...
If the cry “Never Again” is to retain any meaning, the Caesar Sanctions against Syria must be immediately lifted
As the Biden administration is recklessly expanding the sanctions regime—something that has become a routine response from Anglo-American officials to any government they accuse of violating the “rules-based order”—Helga ...
A one-year extension to the current aid arrangements would be no one’s first choice—but would ensure civilians in Idlib continue to receive help
The next international showdown on Syria is quickly coming into view. After ten years of conflict, Bashar al-Assad may have won the war, but much is left to be done to win the peace. This is nowhere more so than in the province of Idlib, which is home to nearly 3 million people who now ...
... relations ...,” 2020, p. 7.
10
. Allison and Simes, “Russia and America: stumbling to war ...,” 2015.
11
. Roth, “Thousands march ...,” 2019.
12
. Upon hearing that the U.S. Senate had ratified the expansion of NATO, Kennan reportedly remarked: ... ... conundrum ...,” 2019, p. 9.
27
.
Ibid
., pp. 11-15.
28
. NATO, “Bucharest Summit Declaration,” 2008.
29
. HRW, “Russia/Syria...,” 2016.
30
. Amnesty International, “Syrian and Russian...,” 2016.
31
. Prashad,
Washington Bullets
, 2020, p....
What kind of Syria would we like to see and might we see by March 2031?
On 6 March 2011, the local security services in the small town of Daraa, southern Syria, detained fifteen teenagers painting anti-government graffiti on fences and buildings. During the subsequent ...
Report 65/2021
Report 65/2021
The report analyses the application of foreign sanctions against Russian citizens, companies and economy sectors. It also considers global trends in the use of sanctions and restrictive measures against Russia within individual areas (the “Ukrainian package,” sanctions against pipeline projects, “cyber sanctions,” etc.). The report is based on Sanctions Event Database compiled by the Russian International Affairs Council. It contains data for 2020 into early 2021....
... airfield facilities near al-Omar oil field in Deir ez-Zor. Its runways are 2.5 km-long, which allows it to host heavy military planes (Lockheed C-130 Hercules, Lockheed C-5 Galaxy, or В-52). Once finished, the base will let the US easily send several thousands of soldiers or PMC fighters to Syria overnight, handing it an opportunity to rapidly build up its military presence and capabilities in the area. This makes Washington an indispensable participant of any settlement in Syria and forces Moscow, Ankara, Tehran and Damascus to take American ...
... in a report issued in late 2015, its fact-finding mission in northern Syria revealed a wave of forced displacement and home demolitions. These amounted to war crimes carried out by the Autonomous Administration led by the Democratic Union Party, the Syrian Kurdish party which controls the area.
The report reveals evidence of horrific violations, including eyewitness and satellite images, and provides details of the deliberate displacement of thousands of civilians as well as the destruction of entire villages in areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration. Some civilians said that they were threatened with airstrikes from U.S.-led coalition forces if they refrain from leaving their ...
