BEFORE UKRAINE: 1/4: Putin's War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence by Anna Borshchevskaya
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
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🗓️ 24 July 2023
⏱️ 10 minutes
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BEFORE UKRAINE: 1/4: Putin's War in Syria: Russian Foreign Policy and the Price of America's Absence by Anna Borshchevskaya
https://www.amazon.com/Putins-War-Syria-Russian-Americas/dp/0755634632/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3TR9QZFZUPFIN&keywords=putin%27s+war+in+syria&qid=1662137728&s=books&sprefix=putin%27s+war+in+syria%2Cstripbooks%2C61&sr=1-1
Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in a “quagmire” in Syria. Contrary to this, Anna Borshchevskaya argues that in fact Putin achieved significant key domestic and foreign policy objectives without crippling costs, and is well-positioned to direct Syria's future and become a leading power in the Middle East.
This outcome has serious implications for Western foreign policy interests both in the Middle East and beyond. This book places Russian intervention in Syria in this broader context, exploring Putin's overall approach to the Middle East – historically Moscow has a special relationship with Damascus – and traces the political, diplomatic, military and domestic aspects of this intervention. Borshchevskaya delves into the Russian military campaign, public opinion within Russia, as well as Russian diplomatic tactics at the United Nations. Crucially, this book illustrates the impact of Western absence in Syria, particularly US absence, and what the role of the West is, and could be, in the Middle East.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is CBS Eye on the World. |
| 0:08.4 | Here's John Batchler. |
| 0:11.0 | Syria. |
| 0:12.5 | The darkness visible of Syria, a failed state, a catastrophe for the region and for the planet. |
| 0:20.3 | The new book, Putin's war in Syria, Russian foreign policy and the price of America's |
| 0:26.1 | absence, Annabar Shepskyah of the Washington Institute, now the author, Annabar Shepskyah. |
| 0:33.5 | And we begin with an incident that is bright in my memory and for Americans watching the |
| 0:39.3 | presidency react to catastrophes in the Middle East, certainly we'll all remember this. |
| 0:45.8 | It is August 21, 2013. |
| 0:49.0 | Word comes of a chemical weapon attack in a suburb of Damascus. |
| 0:54.7 | The country is at civil war, has been for several years now since the Arab Spring, but |
| 1:00.7 | this is extraordinarily outside the understanding of what is acceptable, especially because |
| 1:06.9 | the Obama administration and the president himself has indicated for more than a year that |
| 1:13.1 | using weapons of master's destruction, especially chemical weapons, is a red line. |
| 1:19.4 | And congratulations of very good evening to you, the president of the United States reacts |
| 1:25.4 | and Russia reacts. |
| 1:26.7 | What do we need to know about these days between August and September of 2013? |
| 1:32.1 | Good evening to you. |
| 1:33.1 | Good evening and as always it's great to be on your show. |
| 1:36.9 | What we need to know about those days is first and foremost that Vladimir Putin has correctly |
| 1:44.7 | read the Obama administration's intention at that time in the run up before the chemical |
| 1:52.7 | attack, the nerve agent, Sarah and that Assad used as people and after. |
... |
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