... turning point in the post-Soviet era. The collapse of the USSR had caused a dramatic decline in Russia’s international standing. For two and a half decades after 1991, Moscow worked to regain lost status, prestige, and influence on the world stage.
Syria symbolized the culmination of that process: Russia’s first decisive intervention beyond its immediate post-Soviet neighborhood in one of the world’s central conflicts.
The new Russia had acted militarily before, but only within its former Soviet sphere. This presumably led then-US President Barack Obama to dismiss the country as a
“regional power.”
The Syrian intervention shattered that perception. By ...
... of Saudi Arabia is of particular importance for Syria, since Riyadh is gaining weight in the region and, together with other Gulf states, is best positioned to mitigate the pressure exerted on Syria by the United States and Israel.
The turn towards Syria’s return to the Arab vector has taken place against the backdrop of the trend over the past two years towards building new regional alliances. This was prompted by such factors as fatigue from ongoing conflicts, the need for mutually beneficial economic cooperation in the face of slowing global growth and disillusionment with United States Middle East policy. Signs of the easing of tensions, a kind of Middle East detente, include a number of important ...
... strategic depth, it is necessary to rely on a striking deterrent force that preserves Israel’s continuity. However, as a result of the strategic victories of the resistance axis in the July 2006 war, through the Gaza wars (2008-2021) and the global war on Syria (2011-2019), there have become radical changes that entail threats that will have very serious repercussions on the level of the fate and existence of the Israeli occupying state.
In this context, the victories of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza ...
... assistance of The Shaikh Group political consultancy, the ordinary virtual expert meeting on security issues in Mashreq region took place.
The following issues were discussed during the meeting: the role of external players in conflict situations in Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon. Russia was represented at the meeting by Andrey Kortunov, RIAC Director General, and Irina Zvyagelskaya, RIAC Expert, Head of the Center for the Middle East Studies at RAS IMEMO.
... and for their leaders, whose ambitions are, at this historical juncture, under powerful pressure from both within and without; this test may be even more relevant there than in other parts of the crumbling, yet interconnected world.
“Old” internal conflicts in Syria, Libya and Yemen, new-type protest movements demanding a change of the ruling elites (the “everyone means everyone” slogan) in Algeria, Lebanon and Iraq, balancing on the brink of an armed conflict in the Persian Gulf – this chronic instability ...
... Nations in conflict resolution, from its origins until the current crisis of confidence it experiences
On February 21, the Russian Council of International Affairs had the pleasure to welcome Robert H. Serry for a lecture on the UN and international conflicts resolution.
The event was attended by several experts and students who got the opportunity to hear about the former experiences of the Dutch diplomat in the sphere of conflict management on behalf of NATO, as UN Envoy on the Palestinian-Israeli ...
... 2019 in Moscow, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) together with Institut Montaigne (France) and with the assistance of the Embassy of the French Republic in the Russian Federation held an international seminar "Conflict Resolution in Syria and Ukraine: Russian and French Approaches". The event was held in the framework of cooperation between the two organizations in a series of seminars.
The meeting included two sessions, one devoted to the settlement of the Syrian crisis, and ...
... für Auswärtige Politik, the Brookings Institution, Johns Hopkins University, Centre for European Policy Studies, RAS Institute for Oriental Studies, IMEMO, Lomonosov Moscow State University and other institutions, who focused on the Ukraine and Syria crises.
The Ukraine discussion
covered:
— Attitudes of Russia, the EU and the U.S.A. on Ukraine's future, including prospects of settlement, reinstatement of territorial integrity and healing the civil war consequences.
—
Steps ...
... The Rwanda failure was a great tragedy for me. I understood that commitments for protection of the population in international conflicts must be different. We raised the issue about the need for new decisions, after which Canada put forward the "Responsibility ... ... result, a comprehensive reform package was developed to eradicate all the problems that had given rise to the conflict.
The Syrian Problem
When the Syrian conflict surfaced, I participated in a search for a compromise as a mediator. I believe that the ...
