ABSTRACT
In September 2015 a confluence of strategic factors – the impending collapse of the Assad regime, Iranian pressure, US weakness – led Russia to intervene in Syria and return militarily to the Middle East for the first time in decades. In Syria, the Putin government displayed a unique capacity to integrate ruthless military intervention with cyber and diplomatic skills and a sophisticated knowledge of Arab society. By 2019 Assad’s regime was secure and Russia’s regional influence was expanding. Yet Moscow still faced the danger of an Iran-Israel conflict in Syria and the acute absence of economic resources for rebuilding that war-torn country.
