Counterintervention Success: Analyzing Russian and US Involvement in Syrian Crisis

Аннотация

The Arab Spring that began in Tunisia in 2010 quickly spread throughout the Middle East, fueling protests in many countries of the region, including Libya and Syria. While in Libya the UN Security Council supported NATO’s military intervention against the Gaddafi regime, the Syrian case caused disparity in views, with Russia and China vetoing the Western countries’ attempt to intervene in the conflict and topple Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad. The US intention to intervene directly in the Syrian civil war, triggered by the 2013 chemical weapons crisis, was successfully halted by Russian diplomatic efforts. Yet, the rising threat of terrorism in Syria and Iraq prompted the establishment of the US-led Global coalition against Daesh/ISIS, which conducted airstrikes in 2014, forcing Assad, who at that time had lost control over a significant part of Syria’s territory, to appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance. As a result, Russia began its counterintervention in Syria to support Assad’s struggle to remain in power, fight terrorism and regain control of the country. This article discusses US and Russian objectives in the Syrian crisis, the limited results of the US-led military intervention and the success of the Russian counterintervention.