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"Skillfully lays out Mr. Putin's approach to the Middle East." Wall Street Journal"Detailed and fascinating." Diplomatic Courier Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in a "quagmire" in Syria. Contrary to this, Anna Borshchevskaya argues that in fact Putin achieved significant key domestic and foreign policy objectives without crippling costs, and is well-positioned to direct Syria's future and become a leading power in the Middle East. This outcome has serious implications for Western foreign policy interests both in the Middle East and beyond. This book places Russian intervention in Syria in this broader context, exploring Putin's overall approach to the Middle East - historically Moscow has a special relationship with Damascus - and traces the political, diplomatic, military and domestic aspects of this intervention. Borshchevskaya delves into the Russian military campaign, public opinion within Russia, as well as Russian diplomatic tactics at the United Nations. Crucially, this book illustrates the impact of Western absence in Syria, particularly US absence, and what the role of the West is, and could be, in the Middle East.
List of contents
INTRODUCTION SECTION I: Russia and the Middle East Chapter 1: Soviet Union in the Middle East and the Afghanistan InterventionChapter 2: Russia in the 1990sChapter 3: Putin Returns Russia to the Middle East Chapter 4: Russia-Iran-Syria TriangleSECTION II Putin's Syria InterventionChapter 5: The Military CampaignChapter 6: The Domestic Campaign Chapter 7: Diplomatic EffortsChapter 8: Moscow and Regional ActorsChapter 9: Russia and Syria's ResourcesConclusionIndex
About the author
Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, focusing on Russia's policy toward the Middle East. In addition, she is a fellow at the European Foundation for Democracy. She was previously with the Atlantic Council and the Peterson Institute for International Economics. A former analyst for a U.S. military contractor in Afghanistan, she has also served as communications director at the American Islamic Congress. Her analysis is published widely in publications such as Foreign Affairs, The Hill, The New Criterion, and Middle East Quarterly.
Summary
"Skillfully lays out Mr. Putin’s approach to the Middle East." Wall Street Journal
"Detailed and fascinating." Diplomatic Courier
Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in a “quagmire” in Syria. Contrary to this, Anna Borshchevskaya argues that in fact Putin achieved significant key domestic and foreign policy objectives without crippling costs, and is well-positioned to direct Syria’s future and become a leading power in the Middle East.
This outcome has serious implications for Western foreign policy interests both in the Middle East and beyond. This book places Russian intervention in Syria in this broader context, exploring Putin’s overall approach to the Middle East – historically Moscow has a special relationship with Damascus – and traces the political, diplomatic, military and domestic aspects of this intervention. Borshchevskaya delves into the Russian military campaign, public opinion within Russia, as well as Russian diplomatic tactics at the United Nations. Crucially, this book illustrates the impact of Western absence in Syria, particularly US absence, and what the role of the West is, and could be, in the Middle East.
Foreword
The story of the political, diplomatic, and military aspects of Putin’s intervention in Syria to show how Putin achieved chief Russian objectives.
Additional text
Borshchevskaya’s book offers a very useful summary of Russian policy in the Middle East which is both very readable and very analytic… One I would strongly recommend for use in college courses on Russian foreign policy.
Report
Borshchevskaya. offers one of the most durable sentences in the history of American foreign policy: "The United States threw the Kurds under the bus." Thomas E. Ricks The New York Times
