Good Example Of Studies Essay

Russian Goals in Syria Defined by Timing

Quick and decisive actions taken by Russia in the Syrian issue have put lots of questions about the goals and motives of Russia’s strongman Vladimir Putin. There is a lot of speculation regarding the necessity of intervention in Syria. However, experts believe that the main reason lies in timing. As soon as Mr Putin understood that his ally Bashar Assad was in danger of losing control over the country, he decided to act. The end of a unitary state of Syria and Assad’s removal from power would have meant that Russia lost its foothold in the Middle East and failed in one of its foreign policy vectors. Syria is the only country that still provides Russia with an opportunity to maintain a naval base in the Mediterranean.
The fact that Russians did not interfered earlier witnesses that they must have seen something that had the potential of making things much worse for them. Russia’s invasion started in a manner, which has become Putin’s favorite, by boosting military hardware and personnel to the above mentioned military base. Putin’s speech at the UN General Assembly made him the greatest warrior against ISIS militants. However, when Russia started its air strikes, it turned out that the main targets were not ISIS fighters, but moderate Syrian rebels, representatives of Assad’s opposition. Moreover, Shiite Iran is also a great supporter of Assad, who represents Alawites, a group that religiously is closer to Shiite Islam. However, such backing is not enough. Russia fears that it may lose its power in the region as it uses only air forces. The rivals may adapt to its air power and it will lose effectiveness.
Therefore, Putin had emphasized on the necessity of finding “political solution” to the Syrian issue that led to profound talks about Syria in Vienna. Still there is no progress reached in these talks, but at least they involve all major powers that have potential to solve the conflict: Russia, Iran and the US. The latter has recently decided to increase the American military presence in the region. Still, it is unclear whether Putin will succeed in his Syrian operation, but his intervention has made the world community restart the negotiations about the Syrian civil war.
The current state of international relations does not allow deciding on what theory of international relations suits best the particular situation. However, I tend to characterize that the given situation falls under the constructivist theory due to the mixed nature of the parties involved in the conflict. Social constructs in the form of ideology, identity and personal beliefs unite people in the battle for truth and shapes the interests of states. States no longer play the fundamental role in the international arena, allowing some groups and pseudo-state formations have significant impact on the world political situation. The political system of modern times reflects human nature with its upside downs and the world peace depend on the coexistence of a few political actors.
However, it is worth mentioning that the analysis is limited to Russia’s role in the conflict in Syria. The general background and the initial problems were not taken into account along with Iranian and American backing the opposite sites. Russia’a role was put into the framework of its foreign policy and military presence in the Mediterranean region, while such issues as a demonstration of political power, economic ties and existing conflicts with other independent states were not in the focus. Moreover, Russia-EU relations were damaged by the situation in Ukraine, while the Syrian issue made the countries cooperative again. Therefore, the given analysis characterizes only one possible reason for Russian invasion, while the real image includes a wide variety of aspects.

Works Cited

Hurst, S. R. Analysis: Russian Goals in Syria Defined by Timing. Yahoo News, 2 Nov 2015. http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-russian-goals-syria-defined-timing-082620464.html