Carnegie Moscow Center
Russia’s intransigence in the face of intense international pressure to halt the violence in Syria is confusing to much of the world, but there are real Russian financial and strategic interests at stake over Syria.
The Russian government may be changing its attitude towards Syria and penalizing the Assad regime for failing to heed Moscow's advice.
The fact that the Red Cross has appealed to Putin for authorization to provide humanitarian relief to Syria proves that Russia has become an indispensable player in dealing with the Assad regime.
Today, Russia is peripheral to many of the major conflicts in the world. While this gives Moscow an opportunity to take care of its own affairs, Russia also needs to define and fulfill its new international role.
Despite common views on international affairs and economic interests, the Russian-Chinese relationship is weak—even in the sphere of energy trade—and needs to be strengthened.
Public sentiment in many states has turned against nuclear energy following the March 2011 accident at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. The Fukushima accident was, however, preventable.
As China's power continues to grow, Russians need to rediscover themselves as a Euro-Pacific nation and strengthen ties to East Asia in order to avoid becoming Beijing's junior partner.
Despite the overlapping interests of Russia and China, the two countries are not allies. Moscow will not accept a junior position vis-à-vis Beijing, while the Chinese regard Russia as a fading power.
Russia and China are suspicious of multilateral institutions created by the West and hostile to anything that could justify external intervention in a sovereign state’s affairs, but both are learning to use international forums to their advantage.
Russia has the opportunity to move beyond saving the doomed Syrian regime to save the country itself from civil war and devastation and to bring about a political transition that leads to a stable and democratic Syria.