Syrian, Iranian, Russian Relation

by

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the study

The most prominent characteristic of the international political players is the relativity of relations among them. This significant feature is the foundation of regulations for goals and interest of every country. It also determines the countries with which relation is to form- in cordial, neutral or hostile manner (Kreutz, 2007, p. 19). Obviously, Russia and Iran which are two prominent political players in the international scene are not exempted from this basic rule. Basically, the hesitation in the relation of the two countries, existing since past few decades, should be explained under the light of this rule of relativity causing them to get closers or part away from each other on different historical occasions (Katz, 2009). The complicated and rapid development in the Middle East, specifically in Syria, is one of the major turning points in the relational history of Moscow and Tehran. Despite of various issues between the two countries, this developmental aspect has developed many common grounds promoting the relations between Moscow and Tehran (Rumer, 2000, p. 56). This research will cover and help in identifying these common grounds that have provided a better understanding of the relations between the three countries.

The political developments in Syria have played a major role in giving an objective importance to the commonalities in Iran, with respect to Russian developments internationally and in the Middle Eastern regions. Because of their geopolitical and historical reasons, their interests, and due to their concerns about national security, both the countries are against the expansion of Western economical, military and political domination in their secondary areas (Rumer, 2000, p. 56). Thus, during the past few years, Moscow and Tehran both have generally taken similar steps on some important issues like: NATO's eastward expansion; activities of Western-minded political and cultural organisations; coloured revolutions in secondary regions of Syria; operation of the missile defence shield by United States in Poland, the Republic of Czech and now this has also started in Turkey; and the western expansion in the economic activities and functions (specifically in the field of energy) (Kreutz, 2007, p. 20). Thus, the position of both the countries with respect to the continuous development taking place in Syria need to be defined under the light of their common concerns i.e. the expansion of Western influences in the strategic decisions of regions in Middle East.

Research Questions

The study will answer the following research questions:

What are the economical and political relations that join Iran, Syria and Russia together, and how much does each of them actually rely on the other?

What are the similarities and the differences between the three countries' political systems?

How much are Iran and Russia willing to lose in this fight trying to keep the Syrian Current Regime alive, will they eventually give up and if so at what point and what would be the reason behind that?

Chapter 3: Methodology

The method which has been chosen for the purpose of this paper is desk research, sometimes known as secondary ...