The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World
This essay examines five possible reasons for Russia’s military involvement in the Syrian War. These reasons under consideration are an anti-terror policy, resistance to the unipolarity, domestic populism, overcoming Russia’s isolation after Crimea crisis, and defence of the B. Assad government. I c...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Russian |
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MGIMO University Press
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Международная аналитика |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.interanalytics.org/jour/article/view/456 |
| _version_ | 1826571192771805184 |
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| author | K. Matsuzato |
| author_facet | K. Matsuzato |
| author_sort | K. Matsuzato |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This essay examines five possible reasons for Russia’s military involvement in the Syrian War. These reasons under consideration are an anti-terror policy, resistance to the unipolarity, domestic populism, overcoming Russia’s isolation after Crimea crisis, and defence of the B. Assad government. I conclude that only the anti-terror and anti-unipolar world motivations were relevant and merged into a single cognitive framework that is prone to launching Syrian military operation.Other factors, such as a paradigmatic shift of the image of the post-unipolar world, as well as overconfidence in air force and artillery, also confirm that the Syrian War cognitively prepared Russia for its future military operation in Ukraine. Russian policymakers became convinced that the unipolar world was coming to an end. In the case of Syria (2015), the ill-fated US-led anti-terror operations intensified Islamic terrorism, which created an existential threat for Russia. In the case of Ukraine (2022), the United States, whose grip on world hegemony they believed was on the decline, was trying to use Ukraine as a bridgehead for military aggression against Russia. This study is a result of an extensive survey of the relevant literature and my own expert interviews conducted in Moscow in March 2020. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T02:26:37Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fca2f83dfd104fceb8bbe2a4b273e805 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2587-8476 2541-9633 |
| language | Russian |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-14T12:07:13Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MGIMO University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Международная аналитика |
| spelling | doaj.art-fca2f83dfd104fceb8bbe2a4b273e8052025-03-02T09:40:17ZrusMGIMO University PressМеждународная аналитика2587-84762541-96332022-12-0113411112810.46272/2587-8476-2022-13-4-111-128390The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar WorldK. Matsuzato0Lomonosov Moscow State University; Shanghai International Studies University; University of TokyoThis essay examines five possible reasons for Russia’s military involvement in the Syrian War. These reasons under consideration are an anti-terror policy, resistance to the unipolarity, domestic populism, overcoming Russia’s isolation after Crimea crisis, and defence of the B. Assad government. I conclude that only the anti-terror and anti-unipolar world motivations were relevant and merged into a single cognitive framework that is prone to launching Syrian military operation.Other factors, such as a paradigmatic shift of the image of the post-unipolar world, as well as overconfidence in air force and artillery, also confirm that the Syrian War cognitively prepared Russia for its future military operation in Ukraine. Russian policymakers became convinced that the unipolar world was coming to an end. In the case of Syria (2015), the ill-fated US-led anti-terror operations intensified Islamic terrorism, which created an existential threat for Russia. In the case of Ukraine (2022), the United States, whose grip on world hegemony they believed was on the decline, was trying to use Ukraine as a bridgehead for military aggression against Russia. This study is a result of an extensive survey of the relevant literature and my own expert interviews conducted in Moscow in March 2020.https://www.interanalytics.org/jour/article/view/456syrian warunipolar worldarab springradical islamismrussiathe united statesputinobama |
| spellingShingle | K. Matsuzato The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World Международная аналитика syrian war unipolar world arab spring radical islamism russia the united states putin obama |
| title | The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World |
| title_full | The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World |
| title_fullStr | The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World |
| title_short | The Syrian War in Russia’s Intensifying Discourse Against the Unipolar World |
| title_sort | syrian war in russia s intensifying discourse against the unipolar world |
| topic | syrian war unipolar world arab spring radical islamism russia the united states putin obama |
| url | https://www.interanalytics.org/jour/article/view/456 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT kmatsuzato thesyrianwarinrussiasintensifyingdiscourseagainsttheunipolarworld AT kmatsuzato syrianwarinrussiasintensifyingdiscourseagainsttheunipolarworld |