After over 52 years of the reign of the House of Assad in Syria, and a 13-year civil war, the Iranian and Russian-backed regime has collapsed. What exactly does this mean for the Islamic Republic of Iran, for Putin’s Russia, and for Erdogan’s Turkey? Who are the real winners and losers in this high-stake game of three dimensional chess? What does this mean for the survival of the Christians, the Kurds and other minority groups? What role should the United States play in all of this, if any? What role should Israel play, if any?
Here to discuss this is Professor Stephen Blank.
About Our Speaker: Dr. Stephen J. Blank is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at The Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program. He has published over 900 articles and monographs on Soviet/Russian, U.S., Asian, and European military and foreign policies, testified frequently before Congress on Russia, China, and Central Asia, consulted for the Central Intelligence Agency, major think tanks and foundations, chaired major international conferences in the U.S. and in Florence; Prague; and London, and has been a commentator on foreign affairs in the media in the U.S. and abroad. He has also advised major corporations on investing in Russia and is a consultant for the Gerson Lehrmann Group. He has published or edited 15 books, most recently Russo-Chinese Energy Relations: Politics in Command (London: Global Markets Briefing, 2006). He has also published Natural Allies? Regional Security in Asia and Prospects for Indo-American Strategic Cooperation (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 2005). He is currently completing a book entitled Light From the East: Russia’s Quest for Great Power Status in Asia to be published in 2014 by Ashgate. Dr. Blank is also the author of The Sorcerer as Apprentice: Stalin’s Commissariat of Nationalities (Greenwood, 1994); and the co-editor of The Soviet Military and the Future (Greenwood, 1992).
