Trouble-maker or peace-maker? Russia’s role in the Middle East and Asia
Channel: ANU TV
Date: 07/02/2016

With its annexation of Crimea in 2014 Russia challenged the international order in Europe. Its military intervention in Syria has helped to relieve the internal and international pressure on President Bashar al-Assad and weakened the moderate Syrian opposition.

Yet in recent years it has also played a constructive role in the international community’s efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons; it allowed NATO forces to transit its territory en route to Afghanistan; and it has worked with China, Japan, South Korea and the US to constrain North Korea’s nuclear threat.

In this public seminar, Ian Bond will consider the drivers behind these different faces of Russian foreign policy in the light of Russia’s new National Security Strategy. Is Russian policy in the Middle East and Asia truly strategic, or is it opportunistic? Does the new strategy reflect the real threats to Russia, or President Vladimir Putin’s Cold War mind-set?