This is a legacy website featuring a collection of work by the Carnegie Endowment’s global network of scholars on topics including Russia, Ukraine, Eurasia, and the post-Soviet states. This site is a product of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace based in Washington, D.C. For more recent work by Carnegie scholars in this field, please visit Carnegie Politika.
While Russia will not help push Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out, it must be careful about the consequences of a dispute with multiple countries over Syria. However, the West, too, needs to be careful not to antagonize Russia on this issue.
While there are a number of reasons behind Moscow’s stance on Syria, confronting the West and increasing tension in their relations with the broader Middle East is at odds with Russia’s wider interests.
If Russia continues to support Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, it does not bode well for cooperation between Russia and the West on missile defense or any other security matter of a strategic nature.
Moscow’s position on Syria is primarily shaped by the recent experience of Libya, strong doubts concerning the Syrian opposition, and suspicions about U.S. motives.
Russia's position on Syria is often described as a result of Damascus being Moscow's political ally, a major arms client, and a fellow authoritarian regime, but the reality is more complex.
Turkey is a particularly critical key actor for building a Euro-Atlantic Security Community, with a growing influence within the Euro-Atlantic region.
Syria has entered a “hurting stalemate” that may last months rather than years. The regime is unable to suppress the revolt, but the opposition seems equally unable to demonstrate effective operational control over an increasingly messy situation on the ground.
China’s impact on the U.S. economy and its rising global power gives China a significant role in the Republican primaries for the 2012 U.S. presidential elections.
While the project of “grand Eurasian alliance” between Russia and China currently appears unworkable, the Sino-Russian strategic partnership is a major boon for both countries and acts as one of the pillars of peace and stability in Asia.
Recent violence in Zhanaozen in December has forced Kazakhstan's authorities to rethink political, economic, and social policies. Only time will tell if the changes will have their desired effect, but it is the country's population that will make the ultimate judgment.