Russia has access to seas, of course, but the Baltic and Black seas (not to mention the Caspian Sea, an endorheic basin with no drainage into any other body of water) are effectively closed and offer at best the possibility of local dominance and control. But at that moment, the Soviet Union had directed its political focus on the Turkish Straits, which were essential for developing trade routes from the USSR’s Black Sea and Caspian holdings. Tartus is one such small but strategically important port. Ancient Rome discovered quickly that its security could not be found in southern Italy or even Sicily, but had to be established on the North African shores leading to two Punic wars (three, if one counts the final destruction of Carthage). In 2017 Moscow had renewed its lease over the port, signing an agreement with Damascus in a clear show of support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. They did not have a close relationship, but in … Russia recently announced the sale of sophisticated S-400 missiles to Turkey. The United Kingdom and the United States, like the USSR, focused on other goals in the Middle East, building lucrative relationships with Jordan, Israel, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia. The push to have access to “warm-water ports” is a constant in Russian foreign policy, characterized by “matchless simplicity of conception and persistence of effort,” as Robert Strausz-Hupé put in a 1947 essay. First, Russia initially gained its Syrian friendship primarily because Syria was abandoned in a sense by the West. Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Syria … Russia has held onto this relationship for close to half a century and has developed it into something that is economically and militarily valuable. Postwar France struggled to administer her colonies due to the strain of rebuilding the European homeland. But Russian (and before 1991, Soviet) naval presence there dates back to the early 1970s. Although the major Russian state-owned arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, continues to ship weapons to Syria, the collaborative energy projects have all but ground to a halt, and Syrian trade in general has declined dramatically since 2011. From the 2000s onward, Russia has made efforts to rebuild some of the relationship that deteriorated during the 1980s and 1990s. The whole world’s foreign policy seems to be hinging on how to deal with the Syrian Civil War and the Islamic State. There is, therefore, a serious strategic rationale for Russia’s involvement in Syria and, more specifically, for the recent announcement of a sizeable financial investment in the port of Tartus. Finally, for Russia there is also the draw of Syria’s oil. It is anyone's guess as to how much Russia has had to pay up to now and is still paying for its military involvement in Syria. The Soviet Union was looking for relatively low-risk opportunities to extend Soviet influence and saw Nasser’s anti-colonial views as potentially compatible with Communist goals. Syrian oil production has dropped drastically since the beginning of its protests. Today we explain why Russia is involved in the war in Syria. First, it was a highway of commerce not just between Europe and the Middle East and Asia, but also among European countries. Russia, specifically, has taken major action in the region over the past two months. Looking back briefly over the history of Russian-Syrian relations, there are three key takeaways. The Russian military-industrial complex makes huge profits from the Syrian war, and construction companies stand to do so as well with contracts to rebuild parts of Syria. What to make of this renewed Russian effort to have a Mediterranean presence? Couple this with Russia’s own copious oil reserves, and it casts a shadow of doubt that Russia might be in Syria primarily for its oil. Russia is in Syria to protect its vital national interests (security, foreign policy), fight a brewing Islamic threat, and improve its reputation in the Middle East. Russia is not returning to the Middle East: Syria was a Soviet ally during the Cold War and so it was very logical for Bashar al-Assad to ask for … Given Russia’s economic weakness—and long land borders—why is Moscow so focused on Syria and in particular on having a naval footprint there? Syria’s reserves are dwarfed by many of the surrounding countries, and certainly by Russia’s own massive reserves. Why Russia is so involved with the Syrian Civil War. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Syria's complex and devastating civil war has drawn in multiple foreign powers since it broke out in 2011. Meanwhile, Syria, struggling with both internal and external conflict was gravely in need of outside support. Run-ins between the U.S. and Russian forces have increased following President Donald Trump’s short … Jonathan will be serving as an SRAS Home and Abroad Scholar in Vladivostok for the 2015-2016 school year. As Cold War tensions began to escalate in the 1950s, the Middle East gained a place in the geopolitical spotlight. Satellite photos showing Russian bases in Syria. While President Donald Trump came under fire at … The fledgling nation of Syria was left without a benefactor. But the Mediterranean is not the open Atlantic or Pacific where the size of the navies matter. Russia has access to seas, of course, but the Baltic and Black seas (not to mention the Caspian Sea, an endorheic basin with no drainage into any other body of water) are effectively closed and offer at best the possibility of local dominance and control. To have it all slip away if Assad loses control would seriously undermine Russia’s influence in the region. Prior to the current Syrian Civil War, Russia exported refined petroleum and arms to the nation, with weapons and energy projects (including pipelines and developing energy fields) both valued in the billions of dollars. The usual explanations are that Syria buys lots of Russian arms and that the Syrian port of Tartus is an important "base" for Russia's Mediterranean Fleet. If a regime change occurs, there will be no guarantee that the new leadership will continue to allow such a Russian presence in the region. In other words, Russia can present itself as both the problem and the solution, in either case elevating its influence over European powers. To be a European great power, Russia needs to be a player in the Mediterranean—and it is gradually but steadily becoming one. Today’s Russian rapprochement with Turkey may be fragile and temporary, but it has mitigated the risk for Moscow that the Black Sea will be a closed body of water. Russia has held onto this relationship for close to half a century and has developed it into something that is economically and militarily valuable. Charles De Gaulle in France resisted the Anglo-American led power structures that developed after the war. “Russians seem to me to be more bent on taking ports in the Mediterranean than destroying Bonaparte in Egypt.” The British admiral was annoyed at the Russian unwillingness to challenge the French fleet, while British military analysts a century later thought that the Muscovite penchant for ports rather than large fleets meant that Russia was not a threat. The instability of the Middle East and North Africa of the past decade has demonstrated that European security is not on the European coastline of the Mediterranean but on its southern shores. https://www.the-american-interest.com/2020/01/02/russian-land-power-in-the-mediterranean/. But the Mediterranean is a sea for land powers: What matters is control over the coastline and especially the straits. Russia’s leading role in Syria also gave it regional leverage beyond the Syrian borders. Syrian reserves, however, are quite small overall. Parasiliti: I tend to find that Russia's interests in Syria are pretty clear and they are as follows: One, they're supporting an ally. To be a European great power, Russia needs to be a player in the Mediterranean—and it is gradually but steadily becoming one. ANKARA, Turkey—The current Syria crisis has a number of losers and one big winner: Russia. Following the turning point of the Suez Crisis, the USSR began to supply Egypt with military equipment. The moves leave … And the fortification of the Russian military presence on the Syrian shores means that a large portion of the Eastern Mediterranean will be under Russian overwatch, if not control. Since Peter the Great, Moscow has pushed to have a presence in the more distant seas, from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, in order to be able to compete with the other great powers. The situation has not changed. Russia is trying to extort the Syrian Democratic Forces in northeast Syria by threatening to retreat from its locations and leave the SDF at the mercy of the threats of the Turkish army and its allies, if the SDF does not respond to Russia’s demands and interests. sea for land powers: What matters is control over the coastline and especially the straits. The Tartus naval port gave Russia a base in the Mediterranean Sea without the restrictions that Turkey’s Bosporus Strait places on its Black Sea ports. In May 2012, the Russian Orthodox Church and its primate Patriarch Kirill I were reported by the U.S. mainstream press to be supportive of the existing regime in Syria; the Church's leadership alluded to the potential threat to Christians in Syria that had comprised 10% of the country's population. But what is Russia’s historical interest in Syria, and why might it want to maintain a presence in that embattled land? In Syria, it has been the Assad regime, which Russia has now supported, that has been responsible for the vast majority of the refugees. For many years, Russia sold arms to the dictatorship of former president Omar al-Bashir in Sudan. Saturday, 13 March, 2021 - 08:15 Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a meeting in Doha, Qatar March 11, 2021. Russia has an embassy in Damascus and Syria has an embassy in Moscow. Russia needs ports before it can have a navy. As railways and highways were built in continental Europe, the sea lost some of its influence, and with it, Great Britain, the master of this sea since the late 18. century, lost some of its leverage over France and Germany. Jonathan Rainey majored in History and English at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. As railways and highways were built in continental Europe, the sea lost some of its influence, and with it, Great Britain, the master of this sea since the late 18th century, lost some of its leverage over France and Germany. This, in conjunction with their propensity to construct or manipulate existing problems elsewhere, will allow Russia, Putin hopes, to exert influence over the global strategic agenda by destabilizing the current power balance. Russia enjoys a historically strong, stable, and friendly relationship with Syria, as it did until the Arab Spring with most of the Arab countries. Indeed, Moscow had to reschedule the debt Syria amassed because … The following article is republished from Press TV: Syrian and Russian officials say the United States continues to impede the restoration of stability in the country through the imposition of economic sanctions, arguing Washington is using various methods of economic and political pressure on international bodies and organizations to turn a blind eye on the… What role has Russia played in Syria? Whether … First, Russia initially gained its Syrian friendship primarily because Syria was abandoned in a sense by the West. If instability and chaos prevail in Syria then it is definitely going to have transboundary implications spilling over within Russia’s borders. The push to have access to “warm-water ports” is a constant in Russian foreign policy, characterized by “matchless simplicity of conception and persistence of effort,” as Robert Strausz-Hupé put in a, Horatio Nelson noted in 1798, with some puzzlement, that the. … Why Are U.S. and Russian Forces Clashing in Syria? Russia's only Mediterranean naval base for its Black Sea Fleet is located in the Syrian port of Tartus. Russia had also earlier warned Ankara against carrying out any military operation against Syrians in the region. Russia–Syria relations refers to the bilateral relationship between Russia and Syria. Third, Russia is interested in the Mediterranean as a strategic prize that will allow Moscow to be a much more influential player in Europe. Nevertheless, Russia seems ready to give up on the Syrian regime and on the resistance camp if Moscow gets a good deal from the West. First, Russia initially gained its Syrian friendship primarily because Syria was abandoned in a sense by the West. Second, the Mediterranean is a peculiar sea that favors those who control the shores more than large fleets. Russia’s main base in Syria is the airfield at Hmeimin on the Mediterranean coast, close to the city of Latakia. To answer these questions, we have to analyze Moscow's vision for Russia, and consider the past. Europe is not secure if the Mediterranean sea is a highway of threats sailing northward. In 2004, Vladimir Putin agreed to write off $9.8 billion in Syrian debt owed to the former Soviet Union. Its primary goal is likely continued global influence and the projection power that Tartus allows it in the Mediterranean. Why Did Russia Set up a New ‘Tripartite Process’ in Syria? Saturday, 13 March, 2021 - 08:15 Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a meeting in Doha, Qatar March 11, 2021. Gamal Abdel Nasser led Egypt starting in 1956, and began to make serious moves toward the popular ideal of pan-Arab nationalism, which favored the removal of all Western intervention in the Middle East. For a larger version of this graph, click the graph. Internationally, Russia is now seen as a major player in the Middle East, if not the leading player. It is also a growing source of energy as large gas deposits are being discovered (with accompanying tensions among states, such as Greece and Turkey that have competing claims). There are three related answers to these questions. Why Russia is in Syria Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad shake hands in Moscow's Kremlin on Dec. … Yes, Russia does sell lot of arms -- $15 billion worth in 2012. This is the second time when Russia and Turkey are at the edge of war in Syria. Russia has been conducting a military campaign in Syria since Sept. 30, 2015. This also contributed to weakened control over France’s holdings in the Levant. But the Mediterranean continues to be a valuable waterway with 15 percent of global shipping activity (10 percent by ship deadweight tons, according to 2013 data). Russia first intervened in the civil war in 2015, but its close relationship with the Assad regime began far earlier. The Mediterranean sea appears to be a backwater that is of interest only to tourists and students of ancient history.
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