"Now the central challenge facing U.S. and other Western diplomats
huddling about Syria this week at the United Nations is how to stay
relevant. European Union diplomats are meeting the U.N. Syria envoy
Wednesday, and France is hosting a meeting Thursday of the "Small Group"
that's trying to weigh in on Syria's future, after years of failed
efforts to back the Syrian opposition.
Russia isn't invited to either meeting but still has the upper hand."
__________________________
The central challenge is to have Mr. Assad removed from power.
There is nowhere in the world that the United States isn't relevant.
If Russia wasn't invited, then it doesn't have the upper hand as much as it wants people to believe.
__________________________
Is the United States squeamish about maintaining a steady and modernized supply about democracy and nonviolent resistance to other countries? Why should that be, when we're not at all squeamish about exporting propaganda to sell saturated fat?
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=JxGsW7b6EqOHgge6xYSYCQ&q=McDonald%27s+in+Russia&btnK=Google+Search&oq=McDonald%27s+in+Russia&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i22i30l8.1232.4871..5069...0.0..0.81.1263.22......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.r1tpoVNkH9U
__________________________
The central challenge is to have Mr. Assad removed from power.
There is nowhere in the world that the United States isn't relevant.
If Russia wasn't invited, then it doesn't have the upper hand as much as it wants people to believe.
__________________________
"Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, meanwhile, is working to
persuade other world powers to endorse a Russian-Turkish accord reached
last week to create a buffer zone and avert an all-out battle for the
last Syrian opposition stronghold in Idlib.
Even as Russia flaunts its diplomatic success, it's also securing a
military future with Syria. Russia announced Monday it's selling S-200
missile systems to Syria."
__________________________
The Russian government can avert an all-out battle by not waging it.
How is Syria buying the missile systems? Who's financing the sale? Is Syria going to owe Russia the money? If so, when does the Russian government think that Syria will be able to pay off the debt?
__________________________
"But Russia doesn't want to foot the bill for the huge cost of
reconstruction, so it is seeking Western help, notably in Lavrov's
meetings at the U.N.
Hokayem said prospects of that are low, but Russia is still "in the driver's seat" in Syria.
"Russia is always a step ahead, and has a higher tolerance level" for
ups and downs in the Syria war because Putin doesn't face serious
domestic opposition."
__________________________
If Russia doesn't have the money for reconstruction, then it's not "in the driver's seat."
It's not my impression that Russia is always a step ahead. It's my impression that the Russian government meticulously scrutinizes the West to predict its policies and actions, and that the Russian government's decisions are more often than not contingent on what it thinks the West will do.
Is there actually not domestic opposition to the war in Syria among the Russian citizenry, or is that what the Russian government wants the rest of the world to believe? If there isn't opposition, is that the result of state-controlled media, and can that result be changed by infiltration from other sources?
Is the United States squeamish about maintaining a steady and modernized supply about democracy and nonviolent resistance to other countries? Why should that be, when we're not at all squeamish about exporting propaganda to sell saturated fat?
https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=JxGsW7b6EqOHgge6xYSYCQ&q=McDonald%27s+in+Russia&btnK=Google+Search&oq=McDonald%27s+in+Russia&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l2j0i22i30l8.1232.4871..5069...0.0..0.81.1263.22......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.r1tpoVNkH9U
