ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the relationship between Syria and its superpower patron, the USSR. Whilst the USSR was not a regional actor, the relationship between Damascus and Moscow has been included in this analysis because of its relevance to Syria’s regional policy. Both superpowers played an important role in the Middle East throughout the Cold War, and the alliance with the USSR was therefore central to Damascus’ grand strategy. Cooperation between the two parties was established as early as the 1955, when Syria was the first Arab power to receive Soviet weapons. The relationship grew due to ideological affinity during the Radical Ba’th years, with the Jadid regime openly looking at the Soviet Union as an economic and political model. When Hafez Al-Assad came into power he was considered an opposer of close alignment with the USSR. Despite this, the alliance between the two parties was strengthened and reached its zenith in the early 1980s. The subsequent retreat of the Soviet Union from the region therefore represented a significant setback for Damascus.
