An Analysis of Russian Federation's Policies and Role in Syrian Crisis

Regional and transregional players show different attitudes towards the prolonged Syrian Crisis. The conflicting interests of each player in Syria make the crisis aggravated. Meanwhile, the role of Russian Federation, as a key player, is of significance in many ways. Russia, on one hand, is an influential player in many regional and sometimes international issues and crises, and on the other hand, it tries to retain its influence in the security-political equations in Damascus owing to its military bases in Syria as well as its historical relationship with the Syrian government. Therefore, Russia is definitely considered as a major player in Syria. This paper studies Russian policies and strategies in the Syrian Crisis, using the conceptual framework of Defensive Realism. In fact, the main question of this study is how Russian Federation has reacted to the Syrian Crisis since its beginning. The initial answer, as the hypothesis of the study, is that, by its political and often military support, the Russian Federation, for its security and political interests in Syria, has attempted to prevent the collapse of Asad’s government and transition of power to pro-Arab, pro-Western opposition groups. In order to offer an acceptable model of its attitude towards the Syrian Crisis, this study analyzes different aspects of its role and strategies in the crisis, employing a descriptive- analytical methodology.