"Why Russia Is Backing Syria"

From a Russian Think Tank Director, Ruslan Pukhov (Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies), with high level connections in the Kremlin we have this apology for "Why Russia Is Backing Syria".  From the lede:

MANY in the West believe that Russia’s support for Syria stems from Moscow’s desire to profit from selling arms to Bashar al-Assad’s government and maintain its naval facility at the Syrian port of Tartus.  But these speculations are superficial and misguided.  The real reason that Russia is resisting strong international action against the Assad regime is that it fears the spread of Islamic radicalism and the erosion of its superpower status in a world where Western nations are increasingly undertaking unilateral military interventions.

Not in the article, but from another source, Mr Ruslan Pukhov "is a senior advisor to the Russian Ministry of Defense".

In a way, this could be about Libya.  One analyst suggested:

The Libya episode showed that once Russia gave its assent in the UN Security Council, it became irrelevant to the course of events.

I bet Putin didn't like that one iota.

Regards  —  Cliff