Matthew Rojansky
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"Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
"Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center",
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}Source: Getty
Russia Prepares for a Syria Without Assad
Although Russia seeks to remain the critical broker between Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian opposition, its stance on Syria is beginning to shift as the prospects for Assad's long-term rule diminish.
Source: BBC World News

Moscow’s priority is to ensure that “Russia remains pivotal in the solution” and continues to serve as the “critical broker” between Assad and the opposition, Rojansky explained. In the end, Russia’s leverage “depends on Assad’s belief that Russia is his best friend” and will remain a “back channel” of support, Rojansky concluded.
About the Author
Former Deputy Director, Russia and Eurasia Program
Rojansky, formerly executive director of the Partnership for a Secure America, is an expert on U.S. and Russian national security and nuclear-weapon policies.
- An Opportunity for Ambition: Ukraine’s OSCE ChairmanshipPaper
- Presiding Over the OSCE: Challenges and OpportunitiesIn The Media
Matthew Rojansky
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
More Work from Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center
- Building Mini-Refineries Will Not Solve Russia’s Gasoline CrisisCommentary
Official discussions about mini oil refineries are unlikely to come to anything—but the mere fact they’re happening reveals the regime is failing to deliver a functioning economy.
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The security forces are targeting Arkady and Boris Rotenberg’s patronage network—and in Putin’s Russia, it’s extremely hard to stop a purge once it’s under way.
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- What Should We Take From Andrey Melnichenko’s Essay in the Economist?Commentary
Andrey Melnichenko’s essay offers no answer to the fundamental question of how, under any kind of negotiated settlement, Europe can protect itself from the Russian ressentiment that is inevitable in all scenarios except for an outright victory for Putin.
Leonid Bershidsky
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Despite unhappiness on the ground, Moscow is determined to use both carrot and stick to ensure there is record support for United Russia in occupied Ukraine.
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Medvedev’s defeat in the battle for the position of speaker appears to signal that the long process of his marginalization in Russian politics has passed the point of no return.
Andrey Pertsev