Eleventh Global Studies Conference

Abstract

The crisis in Syria triggered the global political crisis and demonstrated a reluctance to cooperate for peace and resolution, but rather striving for power and dominance in the region and in the world. It also indicated the gap between different foreign policy approaches applied by Russia and the West. Russian foreign policy in relation to Syria has become the matter of particular interest and resulted in an intense discussion among scholars. Apart from historically strong ties with Syria, geopolitical and economic interests between two states still matter. At the same time, it seems that in regards to Syria, Russian foreign policy has been mainly security-oriented, and simultaneously identity-based. In Syria, Russian foreign policy shifted from diplomatic and material support to the Assad’s regime to an outright military intervention in order to keep the legitimate government. Such a shift demonstrated the growing strength of Russia’s military capabilities, although mainly was targeted to show that Russia now does not hesitate to use its military force to push its political goals. On the other hand, Russian external policy thinking is not just about maintaining its self-proclaimed status as the “Great Power.” Moscow has also raised significant normative and values-based arguments relating to the centrality of the UN Security Council as a vehicle for global order and stability and opposition towards the West’s liberal democratic internationalism.