How Syria Catapulted Russia from Mideast Pawn to Power
Last year's military intervention in Syria appears to have paid off for Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has bolstered the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, demonstrated his importance to Iran, and enhanced Russian prestige and relations with the other major powers of the region. In the process, Putin has made the United States seem ineffective, if not irrelevant. Yet Russia's new role as a power broker in the Middle East is far from assured.