What Syria Means for Putin and Ukraine

Background image licensed by the author from Envato Elements. Marked up by the author in Canva.

Seven years ago, Vladimir Putin strutted onto a Syrian airbase, flanked by Russian troops, and proclaimed victory over “terrorists,” patting himself and the Kremlin on the back for rescuing Bashar al-Assad’s regime from collapse.

Good times… Remember back on May 1, 2003, when then-US president George W. Bush gave a televised speech on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with a big MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner behind him?

History repeats itself.

Fast forward to today, and both chest-thumping moments, Putin’s and Bush’s, feel like a relic from another lifetime.

Over the weekend, Assad made a hasty exit to Moscow as rebels blitzed through Syria, dismantling his grip on power while Russia and Iran stood helplessly on the sidelines.

This swift unraveling of Assad’s regime has shown us the limits of Moscow’s power at a time when Putin can least afford another black eye, especially with Ukraine keeping him bogged down in a brutal, drawn-out war.

To understand Russia’s investment in Syria, we need to rewind to the Cold War.

The Soviets were longtime buddies with Assad’s father, Hafez al-Assad, who ran the country with an iron grip for nearly three decades. When Bashar inherited the throne, Moscow remained loyal, offering…