All Policy Analysis by Anna Borshchevskaya

If Washington continues to employ inadequate military pressure, Russia and its supposedly 'withdrawn' forces will have several paths to bolster their position in Syria while undermining U.S. credibility and influence.

Two experts discuss Russia's increasingly assertive regional policy and what it means for American and allied interests. Read a summary or watch video of the full event.

Putin's regime is less stable than meets the eye, and Russia's future remains uncertain.

In addition to Moscow's purposeful ambiguity about the true scope of its withdrawal from Syria, the announcement's timing reflects Putin's intention to force favorable terms in the latest peace talks.

Since becoming president in 2000, Vladimir Putin has reinvigorated Russia's Middle East ties, a trend underscored by his bold military intervention in the Syria crisis. Through these and other regional moves, he has sought to gain ground at the West's expense while bolstering the Kremlin's legitimacy against domestic pressures --

Some analysts have voiced disagreement with the view that Damascus and Moscow are truly at odds.

However difficult it might be to implement safe zones after years of inaction, the humanitarian disaster will only grow without them, as will the threat to regional and European stability.

For such zones to succeed, they must be backed with militarily enforced no-fly zones and a persuasive response to Moscow's inevitable small-scale violations and disinformation campaign.

Understand the policy implications of humanitarian safe havens, safe zones, buffers, or no-fly zones in Syria with these assessments of the who, what, where, why, and how of the various options.

On 11 December 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the Russian Defense Ministry's expanded board meetings, where he said, for the first time according to Western press reports, that Russia is helping the Free Syrian Army -- an opponent of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Russia has supported Assad unequivocally since

Moscow's decision to intervene in Syria is spurring further radicalization and terrorist recruitment among Russian Muslims, and the government's response at home and abroad has not helped the situation.

On 23 November Kirill Martynov, Novaya Gazeta’s (New Newspaper) politics and economics editor, wrote about Russia’s official debate on terrorism, which took place on 20 November—the first joint Duma and Federation Council meeting since Russia’s annexation of Crimea. The accompanying excerpts are from his article. Novaya Gazeta is one of

On 18 November liberal-leaning radio program Echo Moskvy (Moscow’s Echo) hosted Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky on an approximately hour-long talk show, Personally Yours, with host Alexei Naryshkin to discuss Russia’s intervention in Syria. The accompanying excerpts are from the show transcript, posted on the radio’s web-site. Belkovsky made several

On 10 November, Moskovsky Komsomolets published an interview with Alexei Grishin, an Islam specialist who previously worked in Russia’s presidential administration and is currently president of the Religion and Society Information and Analysis Center in Russia. The paper cites his current affiliation and describes Grishin as one of Russia’s leading

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Paris today to discuss the situation in Syria, fighting terrorism, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to Russian and Western press reports. Earlier, at Israel's initiative according to a Kremlin

Experts weigh in on key questions regarding the perpetrators of the Paris attacks and the proper response, including counterterror and military measures in Syria and Iraq.

News about Syria has quickly replaced news about Ukraine in the Russian media, thanks to the Kremlin's propaganda.