Conflict in Syria and Russian foreign policy activism
The article is devoted to the analysis of the current state of the internationalized conflict in Syria and the fight against international terrorism. The internal political conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which escalated into a civil war and survived several waves of invasion by international terrorists, continues to be one of the most serious security problems not only of the Middle East region, but also of the international community as a whole. Today this conflict is hybrid by nature: in addition to the government forces of B. Assad, opposing various groups of the armed opposition - from relatively moderate to radical and ultra-radical (terrorist), - in the conflict were eventually involved the armed forces and special forces of a number of countries (Russia, USA, Turkey, Iran, etc.), as well as international terrorist organizations (such as Al Qaeda, Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, Muslim Brotherhood), private military companies (such as «Tiger Forces»), tribal and ethnic formations of Kurds, Druze, Yezidis, Assyrians, Turkoman, Armenians, Lebanese Hezbollah and many others. Moreover, on legal grounds - with the consent of the Syrian authorities - only the armed forces of Russia, Iran and Lebanon are present in Syria; all others - Turkey, the United States and their allies in the «anti-terrorist coalition» they created (without Syria's participation) do not have such a mandate from Damascus. Against the backdrop of a fierce war with international terrorism (primarily with the Islamic State and Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham) waged by Russia, Syria and Iran, there is a sharp rivalry between Russia, the USA and Turkey over what exactly will be the future of Syria when it will be cleared of international terrorists. Practice shows that, despite the military defeat of the Islamic State and the virtual liquidation of the terrorist «caliphate» that it created, neither the United States nor Turkey are going to leave Syria, while retaining control over those parts of the once united country that they managed to occupy under the pretext of participation in the «international settlement» of the conflict.