Maintaining of Sphere of Influence: Explaining of Russia's Foreign Policy In Syria Crisis

The aim of the present paper is to explain the Russian intervention in the Syrian crisis. The crisis is the most critical crisis within the Arab uprisings. Russia supported the Syrian government in the crisis, and was able to prevent it from being overthrown. The axial question of the document is that “Why has Russia intervened in favor of the Syrian government in this crisis?” The original answer to the document is that “Concern of diluting and eliminate of Russia’s sphere of influence in Syria and Middle East have caused Russia to intervene in the Syrian crisis in favor of the Syrian government.” The review of Russia’s foreign policy in the Middle East shows that it has sought to renew its influence since the early 2000s. But the developments in the region regularly took place against the interests of Moscow, as a result, its influence on the region was limited. With the overthrow of Saddam's government in 2003 and the Gaddafi government in 2011, only Syria remained as the Russian sphere of influence in the region. As a result, if the Baathist government of Syria was overthrown, not only would Russia lose its geopolitical interests in this country, but there would have been no influence in the Middle East; as a result, it would become a marginal power. Therefore, Russia's intervention in the Syria crisis was inevitable for the territory of the geopolitical influence of the regions.