Say goodbye to a unipolar world headed by Obama’s America. The era of Putin is upon us. The situation in Syria has created a complete geopolitical upheaval. Since the end of the Cold War, the world has become accustomed to an inert and unreceptive Russia – but no more. Russia is throwing its weight around, and maneuvering with its allies in Iraq, Iran, and Syria, to suit its interests.
We have seen a new change on the top, yet no one has seemed to notice. Obama’s reluctance to engage in foreign affairs left a void on the world stage that only Putin could fill. Russia’s precise bombing and immense firepower has sent shockwaves coursing through the American body politic. NATO is keeping a close eye on Putin’s operations.
After over a decade of military engagement in the Middle East, Western powers succumbed to war fatigue. Dilly-dallying, the US and its Western allies were unenthusiastic to commit to Syrian intervention. Instead, a daring Putin has filled the gap. Obama has made a fatal misjudgement which has resulted in the US losing a great deal of its political footprint in the Middle East; his is allowing Putin to bask in the glory of spearheading what is supposedly an anti-ISIS international coalition.
In reality, Russia is allying itself with the Shia powers in the region, while the US and the West are firmly on the side of Sunni powers, chiefly Saudi Arabia. Both sides say that they are fighting ISIS, but it is significantly more complicated than that. Russia and her allies are determined to see Assad remain in power in Syria. The West and their allies hope that if Russia is able to clear out ISIS, the Syrian rebels can continue their work with an unmistakable enemy – the Assad regime.
Putin has learned from the fall of totalitarian leaders at the hands of Western bombing, and is now safeguarding Assad with his own aerial strategy. Putin may have legitimate concerns about the threat of Islamist extremism. Violence rocks the Caucasus, and an estimated 2400 Russians have joined ISIS. Russian airstrikes have hurt ISIS far more than strikes by the US or the UK. Russian jets have obliterated ISIS outposts and command centres over the last three days using bunker-busting bombs. The Russian jets have pounded terrorist targets and blown up their command centre. Russia is about to take its Levantine offensive to the next level.
Russian aircrafts here are seen having their closest run-in yet with American war planes over Syria. The yellow aircraft are Russian, the green are American.
Putin is reportedly mobilising 150,000 reservists to sweep the west of Syria, taking control of Raqqa, with all the oil and gas resources surrounding the ISIS capital. This is vital to bankrupt ISIS. ISIS may cease to exist in a matter of hours once ground action starts. It will not take Russia very long to drive them out.
Putin has acted where Obama failed, with a deadly punch, and analysts have admitted that America’s bombing campaign was merely ‘smoke and mirrors’.The US bombing campaign against ISIS has been remarkably restrained. The contrast between US strikes on IS and those on Libya is staggering. Strikes average 60 bombs a day, versus 5000 plus in Libya and during the Iraq War.
It is now just a matter of time before ISIS becomes history and the lost Russian influence is re-established in the region. Never before has American influence been weakest. Assad may be every bit as evil as ISIS – but ISIS must be obliterated.
