Vladimir Putin
All topics-
Syria conflict
Feigning helplessness
Claims by Western diplomats that the Syria conflict can only be solved politically and not militarily are misleading. While the West foots the bill for the humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Assad regime, Russian President Putin creates a situation on the ground to further its interests. A commentary by Markus Bickel
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IS: the winners and the losers
The time is ripe for Bashar and his cronies
In future, under the pre-text of waging a ″war against terror″, autocratic regimes in the Arab world will adopt an even harder line against opposition groups in their own countries. There is likely to be little objection from the West, which is still reeling from the most recent IS attacks, writes the Moroccan journalist Ali Anouzla
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Chronicle of a war foretold
Redefining the "Syrian" conflict
The war waging in Syria, hijacked by opposing ideologies just months after it began, has had an irrevocable impact on the Syrian people. Although not much is heard of Syrians outside the refugee camps, Americans, Europeans, Russians, Turks, Iranians, and Arabs hold meeting after meeting to agree and disagree, coalesce and collide, in an attempt to halt the ″Syrian conflict″. By Hakim Khatib
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The West and the Islamic world
The despotic temptation
Unable to contain the violence, suffering, and chaos engulfing the Middle East and North Africa, Western leaders are falling back into the Cold War trap. All they want is for someone – and now virtually anyone – to enforce order. By Ana Palacio
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Turkey's general election
Abdullah Gul′s choice
With Turkey facing its second general election this year on 1 November, is Abdullah Gul, the country′s former president, going to provide Turkish politics with the counterweight to Recep Tayyip Erdogan it so urgently needs? A commentary by Nina L. Khruscheva
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Russia′s air strikes in Syria
Courting the aggressor
Putin′s involvement in Syria means an extension of the conflict. Prompting tens of thousands to flee, his air strikes are clearing a path for Assad′s death squads. Any hope of creating effective safe zones is now gone. By Bernard-Henri Levy
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Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Vladimir Putin
Sunni Islam meets Russian orthodoxy
While the Turkish president is hoping his party will win an absolute majority in the upcoming parliamentary elections, the Russian head of state has long since eliminated all opposition in his country. There is much that unites these two men – but much that divides them too on a political and biographical level. By Cigdem Akyol
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The Crimean crisis
The Near East: scene of a new Cold War?
The Crimean crisis could mark the beginning of a new confrontation between East and West. Not only is there already talk of a second Cold War, there are already signs of it in the Near East. A commentary by Nora Müller
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Crimean Tatars in Ukraine
Deep-seated fears
The Crimean Tatars, numbering some 250,000, are the third largest demographic group in Crimea. They fear that their rights will be sharply curtailed should the referendum on 16 March turn out in Russia's favour. Fear of Putin and his supporters is equally palpable amongst the millions of Crimean Tatars living in Turkish exile. By Luise Sammann
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Interview with Stefan Meister
"The Syria crisis is legitimising Putin"
Russia's backing of Bashar al-Assad and his regime is a geopolitical game, says Stefan Meister, expert in Russian foreign and security policy. Above all, however, Vladimir Putin is benefitting domestically from his Syria policy. The confrontation with the West is making him a key figure in world politics. Interview by Jannis Hagmann
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International policy on Syria
The rehabilitation of Assad
Above all, the West wants stability in Syria. Because he has managed to sit out everything that has happened in recent years, the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad seems to offer this very stability. But accepting the kind of stability Assad offers would mean having to forget the atrocities committed by his regime. A commentary by Bente Scheller