Russia's Foreign Policy in Syria from the Perspective of Smart Power

The emergence of the Syrian crisis means that Syria has become the center of confrontation between regional and supra-regional powers. Syria's geopolitical and strategic position has made it almost at the center of the conflict between the powerful countries and it has become a testing ground. Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, as well as Russia, the United States and Europe are playing a role in this crisis. Given the coexisting, conflicting and parallel interests of the actors, each of them seeks to expand their influence and gain maximum points. This descriptive-analytical article seeks to answer the question: What are the main strategies of Russian foreign policy in Syria from the perspective of smart power? In answer to this question, the hypothesis of the article states that based on the combined nature (soft power and hard power) in the smart power model, although the software dimensions of Russian power in the peripheral field have been seriously challenged, but the focal point of this country's smart power is based It is hard on power. Therefore, Russia's foreign policy is a combination of tough policies including the use of military power and supporting the role of actors such as Iran and Turkey on the one hand and soft policies including countering Western discourse, defending Assad and vetoing resolutions, maintaining balance between actors to manage etc. In this regard, Russia's intelligent power tried to make the most of the crisis and the period of Assad's stability at the lowest cost.