News sources quoted from: The Washington Institute
Media www.rajawalisiber.com – When Russia intervened in Syria in 2015, many expected it to overextend and get stuck in a quagmire similar to the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. To the contrary, however, Vladimir Putin has met his key objectives without incurring too many costs. Moscow is now in a position to manage the frozen conflict indefinitely, using Syria to gain greater access in the Middle East at a time when U.S. commitment to the region remains uncertain.
How did Putin achieve this state of affairs? What does the intervention tell us about Russia’s approach to the Middle East and U.S. relations? To discuss these questions, The Washington Institute is pleased to announce a virtual Policy Forum with Anna Borshchevskaya, author of the new book Putin’s War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America’s Absence. She will be joined by Ambassador Michael McFaul and Lester Grau.
Anna Borshchevskaya is a senior fellow at The Washington Institute and a fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy. Her analysis on Russian affairs has been published in venues such as Foreign Affairs, New Criterion, and Middle East Quarterly. Dr. Borshchevskaya also coauthored the recent Institute paper “Triangular Diplomacy: Unpacking Russia’s Syria Strategy” (with Andrew Tabler).
Michael McFaul is director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Previously, he served for five years in the Obama administration, first as special assistant to the president and senior director for Russian and Eurasian affairs at the National Security Council (2009-2012), then as ambassador to Russia (2012-2014). Author of the bestseller From Cold War to Hot Peace: An American Ambassador in Putin’s Russia, he currently works as an analyst for NBC News and a contributing columnist for the Washington Post.
Lester Grau is the research director for the Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has served the U.S. Army for more than five decades, retiring as an infantry lieutenant colonel and continuing service through professional military education. As one of the Army’s leading experts on Russia, Dr. Grau has conducted various assignments there, including collaborative research with the Russian General Staff’s Military History Institute and other officials. He has also conducted collaborative research in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Europe.