"Skillfully lays out Mr. Putin's approach to the Middle East." Wall Street Journal "Detailed and fascinating." Diplomatic Courier Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in a “quagmire” in Syria. Contrary to this, Anna Borshchevskaya argues that in fact Putin achieved significant key domestic and foreign policy objectives without crippling costs, and is well-positioned to direct Syria's future and become a leading power in the Middle East. This outcome has serious implications for Western foreign policy interests both in the Middle East and beyond. This book places Russian intervention in Syria in this broader context, exploring Putin's overall approach to the Middle East – historically Moscow has a special relationship with Damascus – and traces the political, diplomatic, military and domestic aspects of this intervention. Borshchevskaya delves into the Russian military campaign, public opinion within Russia, as well as Russian diplomatic tactics at the United Nations. Crucially, this book illustrates the impact of Western absence in Syria, particularly US absence, and what the role of the West is, and could be, in the Middle East.

Putin intervened in Syria in September 2015, with international critics predicting that Russia would overextend itself and Barack Obama suggesting the country would find itself in a "quagmire" in Syria. Contrary to this, Anna Borshchevskaya argues that in fact Putin achieved significant key domestic and foreign policy objectives without crippling costs, and is well-positioned to direct Syria's future and become a leading power in the Middle East. This outcome has serious implications for Western foreign policy interests both in the Middle East and beyond. This book places Russian intervention in Syria in this broader context, exploring Putin's overall approach to the Middle East - historically Moscow has a special relationship with Damascus - and traces the political, diplomatic, military and domestic aspects of this intervention. Borshchevskaya delves into the Russian military campaign, public opinion within Russia, as well as Russian diplomatic tactics at the United Nations. Crucially, this book illustrates the impact of Western absence in Syria, particularly US absence, and what the role of the West is, and could be, in the Middle East.

Azmi Bishara's book on the Syrian Revolution is one of the most comprehensive and profound works on the subject published to date. Translated here into English for the first time, the study examines the complex roots of Syria's political and sectarian conflicts from the day revolution erupted on 15th March 2011 to its descent into civil war in the two years that followed. The book unearths and discusses the very first signs of protests from across Daraa, Hama, Aleppo, Damascus, Raqqa, Deir El Zour, Edlib and Homs, and it deals with Syria's ruralization process and the subsequent economic 'liberalization', which eventually led to the revolt against the Baath party. The work is based on high-level interviews, analysis of the country's socio-economic background, and examination of the Syrian regime's strategy and its political and media discourse. Syria's revolution is chronicled in two stages: the peaceful civil stage and the armed stage. Bishara's analysis first centres on the regime's strategy, unveiling despotism, massacres, kidnapping, sectarian tendencies, jihadist violence, the emergence of warlords, and the chaotic spread of arms. He then turns to the role of the opposition to narrate in detail the events that broke out and exactly how a peaceful protest turned into an armed struggle. The book provides a roadmap to how revolution broke out and is a comprehensive analysis of what drove those early events. Its publication brings renowned Arabic-language scholarship to the English-speaking world.

One of the most important aspects for a successful police operation is the ability for the police to obtain timely, reliable and actionable intelligence related to the investigation or incident at hand. Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) provides an invaluable avenue to access and collect such information in addition to traditional investigative techniques and information sources. This book offers an authoritative and accessible guide on how to conduct Open Source Intelligence investigations from data collection to analysis to the design and vetting of OSINT tools. In its pages the reader will find a comprehensive view into the newest methods for OSINT analytics and visualizations in combination with real-life case studies to showcase the application as well as the challenges of OSINT investigations across domains. Examples of OSINT range from information posted on social media as one of the most openly available means of accessing and gathering Open Source Intelligence to location data, OSINT obtained from the darkweb to combinations of OSINT with real-time analytical capabilities and closed sources. In addition it provides guidance on legal and ethical considerations making it relevant reading for practitioners as well as academics and students with a view to obtain thorough, first-hand knowledge from serving experts in the field.

An unprecedented analysis of the crucial but underexplored roles the United States and other nations have played in shaping Syria’s ongoing civil war “One of the best informed and non-partisan accounts of the Syrian tragedy yet published.”—Patrick Cockburn, Independent Syria’s brutal, long-lasting civil war is widely viewed as a domestic contest that began in 2011 and only later drew foreign nations into the fray. But in this book Christopher Phillips shows the crucial roles that were played by the United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar in Syria’s war right from the start. Phillips untangles the international influences on the tragic conflict and illuminates the West’s strategy against ISIS, the decline of U.S. power in the region, and much more. Originally published in 2016, the book has been updated with two new chapters.

The shift in international relations towards multipolarity has had profound implications across the world, but particularly in highly penetrated regions, such as the Middle East. This book explores the rivalry between the United States, Russia, and China in the region, investigating its effects and assessing the influence of regional actors and issues. Each chapter offers a comprehensive analysis of three core questions: how does global power competition manifest itself?; how does it impact regional political, economic, and security dynamics?; and how do regional actors and issues influence the trajectory and dynamics of global power competition? Expert international contributors take a country case study approach to consider these questions and investigate the most pressing contemporary events, issues, and trends in Middle Eastern politics. Tackling transregional and global issues and themes they analyse the convergence, divergence, and competition between global powers in managing threats and interests such as terrorism, energy and cyber security, nuclear non-proliferation, conflict resolution, and warfare. This volume will appeal to scholars and students of international relations, great power competition, China, Russia, the USA, and the Middle East.

Climate change has become one of the primary drivers of human migration, with many observers predicting that its impact will outweigh all other man-made factors in the near future. While some natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods, result in immediate and direct human displacements, climate change-related emergencies, such as drought and erosion, result in slow but steady migrations. As climate change increases the likelihood of natural disasters, the consequences will have far-reaching implications for local and cross-border displacements, as well as international policymaking. The edited volume combines two broad objectives. First, it intends to present an alarming and innovative perspective on climate change through case studies from around the world. Second, it will provide a new perspective on migration from the perspective of global and regional dynamics that force people to migrate. With a special emphasis on Türkiye’s climate change policy and its organizational capacity to meet new challenges that have emerged, especially after its successful response to the massive influx of Syrian refugees, the edited volume overall aims to inspire international organizations and governments to find long-term solutions to this dynamic process.