<ul><li>The annual <keyword id="2426742" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Malabar-exercise">Malabar Exercise</keyword> kicks off today with Australia as a permanent member. </li><li>This is the first time that all four <keyword id="887681" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quad">QUAD</keyword> members — the US, Australia, India and Japan — are participating in the Malabar Exercise together in over a decade. </li><li>The timing of their cooperation is significant with China’s growing assertiveness in Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea, and, of course, Eastern Ladakh.</li></ul>India, the US, Japan, and Australia haven’t had their navies alongside each other for over a decade. Today, they kick off the first phase of the annual Malabar Exercise in the Bay of Bengal.<br /><br />The last time around, in 2007, Singapore was also among their ranks for the first-ever Malabar Exercise conducted outside of the Indian off the Japanese island of Okinawa. The event was a ‘test drive’ for how QUAD could coordinate on the open seas.<br /><br />While the partnership between India and the US remained strong — Australia withdrew in 2008 after a slew of diplomatic protests from China and India’s narrative under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that year to prioritise the India-China relationship. The QUAD was also on a nearly decade-long hiatus. <br /><br />In 2020, that is no longer the case. Japan became a permanent member of the Malabar Exercise in 2015. And this year, Australia also accepted India’s invitation to join in with its Royal Australian Navy (RAN).<br /><br /><table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"><colgroup></colgroup><col /><col /><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Navy<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Ships participating in the Malabar Exercise<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Royal Australian Navy<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">HMAS Ballarat<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">US Maritime Forces<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">USS John S McCain<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Indian Navy<br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Shakti, Ranvijay, Shivalik, Sindhuraj<br /><br /></td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Japan Maritime Self Defence Force <br /><br /></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">JS Onami<br /><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br />  <div type="image" title="malabar 2017_edited" msid="79018793" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;US and Japanese (R) Navy ships are pictured docked at a harbour during the inauguration of joint naval exercises with India in Chennai on 10 July  2017&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br /><br /><strong>The significance of the Malabar Exercise<br /></strong>The coronavirus pandemic and the ongoing conflict along the border with China only served as more incentive for India to make the QUAD work. The members have refrained from referring to China directly and claim the organisation’s goal is to work towards a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’.<br /><br />    <div type="image" title="quad malabar." msid="79018706" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Sships of the Indian Navy and U.S. Navy sail in formation in the Bay of Bengal during the Malabar Exercise 2017 between India, Japan and the US&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div><br />Even at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Ministerial Summit, the countries were careful not to name China but insist that the QUAD has a positive agenda based on shared interests and democratic values. <br /><br />However, this is the first year that all four member countries of the QUAD, or the Asian NATO, are ‘officially’ participating in the Malabar Exercise. The solidification of the alliance between them is a strong signal to China who has been asserting itself in the straits of Taiwan, South China Sea, Hong Kong and, of course, Eastern Ladakh. <br /><br />On its part, China has made it clear that it's not particularly comfortable with the Malabar Exercise. “We hope relevant countries’ military operations will be conducive to regional peace and stability, instead of the contrary,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin during the regular press conference in Beijing on Tuesday.<br /><br /><strong>The 2020 Malabar Exercise<br /></strong>The 2020 Malabar Exercise makes its 24th iteration. Alongside the Indian Navy, the RAN, and Japan’s Maritime Self Defence Force (MJSDF), the US will be sending its Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain.<br /><br />“It is fitting to see our Navies operate in a high end, tactically relevant exercise like Malabar. It is another opportunity to further strengthen our combined capabilities and enhance our partnerships," said <a href="https://t.co/YEqTr6tyT0?amp=1">Captain Steven DeMoss</a>, commodore of the US Destroyer Squadron Fifteen in a statement. <br /><br />This year’s exercise at sea includes a variety of high-end tactical training aimed at specific interactions designed to enhance interoperability between the navies of the four counties.<br /><br />The Indian Navy’s participation will be led by Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan. Along with its ships, India will also be sending its submarine dubbed Sindhuraj and many aircraft, including the advanced jet trainer Hawk, martin patrol aircraft Dornier, and the long-range maritime patrol aircraft P-8I.<br /><br />Once the first phase of the Malabar Exercise is complete on November 6, the second phase is scheduled for mid-November in the Arabian Sea.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/tcs-infosys-hcl-tech-and-others-to-see-more-freshers-than-lateral-hires-in-the-next-six-months/articleshow/79014794.cms">TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, and others to see more freshers than lateral hires in the next six months</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/news/prajakta-koli-aka-mostlysane-advice-for-content-creators-on-the-fine-line-between-brand-collaborations-and-staying-honest-on-social-media/articleshow/79013162.cms">Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane’s advice for content creators on the fine line between brand collaborations and staying honest on social media</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/flipkart-acquires-gaming-startup-mech-mocha-as-it-looks-to-tap-the-social-gaming-space-for-more-consumers/articleshow/79014466.cms"><strong>Flipkart acquires gaming startup Mech Mocha as it looks to tap the social gaming space for more consumers</strong></a><br /><br />

Malabar Exercise kicks off today with the QUAD countries reuniting after over a decade

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/52886199.cms" /><br />
 <br /> Indian PM Narendra <keyword id="6354642" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Modi">Modi</keyword> has left for Tashkent where he would be taking part in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit; a greater agenda of the trip, however, would be his meeting with Chinese President <keyword id="191809" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Xi-Jinping">Xi Jinping</keyword>, amidst Chin’s protest against India’s push to get into the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).<br />
 <br />
The last few weeks have seen a string of high-profile Indo-China exchanges, with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar visiting Beijing last week and currently being in Seoul for the NSG meeting.<br />
 <br />
Amongst the 48 members of the group, China is largely alone when it comes to opposing India's membership, saying that India is not a part of non-proliferation treaty (NPT), thus not being eligible for NSG entry. It added that in case rules are being changed for India, Pakistan needs to be treated equally.<br />
 <br />
India has major support for its entry, in the form of US that has not only urged members to back India, but has also revealed to news agency ANI how Pakistan continues to proliferate nuclear material to North Korea.<br />
 <br />
Talking of SCO meet, India has so far only attended these meetings as an observer, and is now set to sign the Memorandum of Obligations and other key documents so that it can be closer to full membership in the Eurasian political and economic forum.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.indiawrites.org/wp-content/uploads/xi-modi.jpg"><em>Image source</em></a><br />


PM Modi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping amidst India’s push for NSG membership

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57a48a55db5ce949188b4db8-2400/rtr3b64a.jpg" alt="putin erdogan" data-mce-source="Murad Sezer/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference in Istanbul December 3, 2012." /><p class="source"><span>Murad Sezer/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan attend a news conference in Istanbul December 3, 2012.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Turkey is looking into joining a Chinese- and Russian-led alliance known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan <a href="http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2016/11/20/tired-of-eus-delaying-tactics-erdogan-points-to-shanghai-pact">told reporters Sunday</a> <span>at the end of his official tour of Pakistan and Uzbekistan. </span></p><p>Erdogan said that he met with SCO leaders over the weekend and expressed his interest in joining the Eurasian political, economic, and military alliance as an alternative to joining the European Union, which has not been receptive to Turkey's repeated bids for membership that began in 1963.</p><p><span></span><span><span><span>France, Germany, and Belgium - home to Brussels, where the EU is headquartered - <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/22/vote-leave-turkey-warning-ignorance-european-realities">have long opposed</a> Turkey's accession into the EU. E</span></span></span><span><span><span><span>rdogan's reluctance to sign on to certain membership requirements, and his increasingly authoritarian leadership over Turkey, has also sparked concern among European leaders that he is not committed to a Western conception of human rights and civil liberties. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span>Thousands of Turkish civil servants - as well as military personnel, police officers, academics and teachers - have been purged or arrested on suspicion that they were associated with a failed coup attempt against Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in July. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57c2434b09d29323008b4d95-754" alt="Turkey" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz" data-mce-caption="One of the 11 fugitive commandos who attempted the coup in Turkey is arrested." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Kenan Gurbuz</span></p><p class="caption">One of the 11 fugitive commandos who attempted the coup in Turkey is arrested.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span><span><span>D</span><span>ozens of</span><span> journalists, primarily working for opposition newspapers, have also been arrested since the attempted coup, while several opposition outlets have been shut down altogether.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span>Erdogan insisted in a recent interview with "60 Minutes" that "these measures are being taken by prosecutors and judges in full accordance with the rule of law." But t</span>he crackdown has led t<span>he European Commission <a href="http://www.politico.eu/article/europe-warns-turkeys-democracy-is-backsliding/">to warn Turkey that it is "backsliding"</a> in human rights and democracy - an accusation at which Erdogan appeared to scoff.</span></span></p><p><span><span><span>"From time to time, we see insults directed at myself, claims that there was no freedom of expression in Turkey," Erdogan <a href="http://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2016/11/20/tired-of-eus-delaying-tactics-erdogan-points-to-shanghai-pact">said</a> Sunday.</span></span></span><span><span><span>"</span></span></span><span><span><span>Meanwhile, terrorists prance around in French, German and Belgian streets. This is what they understand of freedom."</span></span></span></p><h2><span><span><span>A rejection, or a bluff?</span></span></span></h2><p>Increasing disenchantment with the EU and the perception that he is being lectured to by the US - which supports anti-ISIS Syrian Kurds viewed by Turkey as terrorists - has apparently spurred Erdogan to look east, where his domestic policies have not been heavily scrutinized or condemned.</p><p><span>"Erdogan feels much more</span><span> comfortable and at home among the authoritarian regimes of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization rather than facing the scrutiny and criticism of the European family of nations," <span>Aykan Erdemir, an expert on Turkey and senior fellow at the Foundation for <keyword id="6354810" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="Defense">Defense</keyword> of Democracies, told Business Insider on Monday. </span></span></p><p>Joining or even threatening to join the Shangai bloc, moreover - which is heavily influenced by Russia and China - would rattle the West and, as Erdogan said on Sunday, "considerably broaden Turkey's room to maneuver."</p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5693aa18c08a80872f8b787d-2400/rtx1m9ak.jpg" alt="China Turkey" data-mce-source="Reuters/POOL New" data-mce-caption="Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they attend a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China." data-link="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ5M578U2&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1239&amp;RH=850#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ5M578U2&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1239&amp;RH=850&amp;PN=2&amp;POPUPPN=93&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF1O7XF9MR" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://pictures.reuters.com/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ5M578U2&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1239&amp;RH=850#/SearchResult&amp;VBID=2C0BXZ5M578U2&amp;SMLS=1&amp;RW=1239&amp;RH=850&amp;PN=2&amp;POPUPPN=93&amp;POPUPIID=2C0BF1O7XF9MR">Reuters/POOL New</a></span></p><p class="caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) shakes hands with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as they attend a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.</p></div><p></p></div></div>"If Turkey were to actually join the SCO, it would of course drastically alter relations with the US and NATO," Middle East analyst Michael Koplow, <span>policy director of the Israel Policy Forum, told Business Insider on Monday.</span></span></p><p><span>"It would be viewed as a rejection of the Western alliance, and make it incredibly difficult to include Turkey in any type of high-level strategic dialogue, given concerns about Russian expansionism," he added, saying Turkey, unlike other NATO members, is already a partner country to SCO dialogue.</span></p><p><span>Still, many analysts are skeptical that Erdogan is prepared to put his money where his mouth is. He <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-turkey-rapprochement-2016-10">has been flirting </a>heavily and publicly with Russia since the summer, but it is unclear whether a closer alliance with Russia and China would benefit Turkey politically or economically. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5654a2de8430765e008b51a4-2400/rtr3b65q.jpg" alt="putin erdogan" data-mce-source="Osman Orsal/Reuters" data-mce-caption="Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (front R), with Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia (L) and Ahmet Davutoglu (C) of Turkey in the background" /><p class="source"><span>Osman Orsal/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Russia's President Vladimir Putin (front L) and Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (front R), with Foreign Ministers Sergei Lavrov of Russia (L) and Ahmet Davutoglu (C) of Turkey in the background. Davutoglu has since been replaced by Binali Yıldırım.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span><span>"Erdogan's weathervane foreign policy </span><span>characterized by frequent U-turns </span><span>is not based neither on values nor principles," said Erdemir, a former member of Turkish parliament. He noted that Erdogan <span><span>made the same announcement about possible SCO membership during a November 2013 meeting with Putin, yet never acted on it.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span>Michael Kofman, an expert on Russian and Eurasian affairs and fellow at the Wilson Center, said that the SCO is "not <span>a cohesive economic or political block" and would offer little to Turkey in practice other than to "i<span>nstill the perception that the West is somehow 'losing Turkey' and should chase Erdogan to get it back."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><h2>'A rogue and dysfunctional' ally</h2><p><span><span><span><span>Complicating the Western temptation to write off Erdogan's comments as empty threats, however, is Turkey's recent deal with the EU to help stem the flow of refugees trying to enter Europe from Syria. </span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>"Erdogan knows that the EU views Turkey as critical to staunching the flow of refugees into Europe," said Koplow <span>of the Israel Policy Forum</span>. </span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span><span>"He has a long history of making these types of threats in order to pressure Europe into concessions of various sorts. </span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span><span>It's a gambit that will probably be successful if recent history is any guide."</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>Over the summer, the EU agreed to pay Turkey<span> €3 billion</span> - and German Chancellor Angela Merkel promised to speed up Turkey's EU bid - if Turkey pledged to harbor the vast amount of refugees and migrants seeking asylum in Europe.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/566c3c565afbd37c0b8b4567-800/us-allies-launch-17-strikes-against-islamic-state-in-iraq-and-syria-us-military.jpg" alt="A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle from the 48th Fighter Wing lands at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, November 12, 2015. Six F-15Es are deployed in support of Operation Inherent Resolve and counter-ISIL missions in Iraq and Syria. Picture taken November 12, 2015. REUTERS/USAF/Airman 1st Class Cory W. Bush/Handout via Reuters  " data-mce-source="Reuters" data-mce-caption="A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle from the 48th Fighter Wing lands at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Turkey gave the US permission to use Incirlik as a base for anti-ISIS operations in July 2015." /><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle from the 48th Fighter Wing lands at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. Turkey gave the US permission to use Incirlik as a base for anti-ISIS operations in July 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span>Turkey's entry into the SCO would also complicate its relationship with NATO. </span></span></span></span></span></p><p>"In theory, SCO membership would not require Turkey's exit from NATO," geopolitical expert Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk firm Eurasia Group, told Business Insider on Tuesday. "In practice, however, it would severely strain Ankara's ties with other NATO members."</p><p>Ultimately, however, Bremmer believes Erdogan is just looking for leverage.</p><p>"Erdogan wants the US to rely less on the Syrian Kurds, and to extradite Gulen, rather than a signal of a historic and strategic shift away from the West," he said, noting that many existing SCO members don't necessarily even want Turkey to join.</p><p>"Erdogan himself said yesterday relations with the US and NATO are on track, so I think there's lots of smoke, no fire here," he added.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/57fe17b95124c91f187470ea-800" alt="Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan arrives for the NATO Summit in Warsaw, Poland, July 9, 2016. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Turkey's President Erdogan arrives for the NATO Summit in Warsaw" /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Turkey's President Erdogan arrives for the NATO Summit in Warsaw</p></div><p></p></div></div><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>Indeed, Erdogan told CBS over the weekend that Turkey is "</span><span>moving in the same direction with NATO that we have always done." But July's failed coup appears to only have made him more determined to stomp out dissent, whether it's coming from his own citizens or from the international community.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>The FDD's Erdemir, meanwhile, predicted that Turkey's "gradual drift from NATO" will continue.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>"Putin will make sure that this is a slow and painful process for Turkey and the transatlantic alliance," he said. "He knows that as a rogue and dysfunctional NATO ally, Turkey is of greater use to Moscow than as a defector to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/navy-seal-hell-week-training-2016-11">Forget 'Hell Week' - a Navy SEAL reveals the hardest part of training</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="h0Z29hMzE6L-FUbTLLal5qmV-po1eCpa" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'h0Z29hMzE6L-FUbTLLal5qmV-po1eCpa',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

NATO's second-largest military power is threatening a dramatic pivot to Russia and China

<p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5790957cdd08951c618b49ad-2400/rtx1jvok.jpg" alt="putin" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin" data-mce-caption="Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacts at a news conference after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa, Russia, July 10, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin</span></p><p class="caption">Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacts at a news conference after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa, Russia, July 10, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span>Russia lost its appeal against its Olympics ban.</p><p>The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) issued its final decision in the dispute between Russia and the governing body of world athletics, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), over the athletes' participation in the Rio Olympic Games.</p><p>CAS's secretary-general Matthieu Reeb announced the decision on Thursday morning that 68 Russian track and field athletes won't be able to compete in this year's Olympic games in Rio, Brazil.</p><p>The IAAF had banned the athletes in November 2015 from competing after repeated allegations of doping and state-sponsored cover-ups.</p><p>The head coach of the Russian synchronized swimming team, Tatyana Pokrovskaya, told Reuters she is concerned the ban might be extended to other sportspeople: </p><p>"Of course, we are anxious, and as the Games approach we feel more and more anxious. We have no doubt that we should take part in the Olympics, because doping is an irrelevant word for us, we only hear it at a distance. That's why everyone who is clean from doping should go and take part in the Olympics. All sportspeople without exception and we hope for it," Pokrovskaya said. </p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/laurie-hernandez-is-about-to-tear-up-the-olympics-at-age-16-2016-7">This gymnastics phenom is about to tear up the Olympics at age 16</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5waXhvNDE6yJ-8r2wDxcHcivAEEX-Nmt" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5waXhvNDE6yJ-8r2wDxcHcivAEEX-Nmt',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

68 Russian track and field athletes won't be able to compete in the Rio Olympics

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b871aca5c5e523b1e8b4b11-1400/2018-07-29t102510z1741382759rc1c41d38a60rtrmadp3russia-navy-day-parade-putin.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia Vladimir Putin navy day military generals salute" data-mce-source="Sputnik/Mikhail Klementyev/Kremlin via REUTERS" data-mce-caption="Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects warships on the Neva River during the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, July 29, 2018." /><p class="source"><span>Sputnik/Mikhail Klementyev/Kremlin via REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin inspects warships on the Neva River during the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, July 29, 2018.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Russia's latest iteration of its Vostok military exercise, set for mid-September, has attracted attention for its massive scale.</strong></li><li><strong>But just as striking a feature may be the inclusion of China.</strong></li><li><strong>Russia has long seen China as a rival, but tensions with the West appear to have triggered a shift by Moscow.</strong></li></ul><hr /><p>Russia's armed forces are gearing up for Vostok-18, or East-18, a massive military exercise in the country's far east from September 11 to September 15.</p><p><keyword id="6354810" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="defense">Defense</keyword> Minister Sergei Shoigu said this week that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-preps-for-vostok-2018-military-exercise-amid-tensions-with-nato-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about 300,000 troops</a> and 1,000 aircraft will participate, using all of the training ranges in the country's central and eastern military districts. Russia's Pacific and Northern Fleets and its airborne forces will also join.</p><p>Shoigu said t<span>his year's iteration of the Vostok exercise will be "unprecedented in scale, both in terms of area of operations and numbers of military command structure, troops and forces involved."</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54664c786da811b51a13e6ea-2400/russia serbia military drill november 2014 troops.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia Serbia Military Drill November 2014 Troops" data-mce-source="Marko Djurica/Reuters" /><p class="source"><span>Marko Djurica/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Russian troops after a training exercise in the village of Nikinci, west of Belgrade, Serbia, November 14, 2014</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But the size of the forces involved is not the only feature that has turned heads.</p><p><span>Forces from China and Mongolia will also take part. Beijing has said it will send about 3,200 troops, 30 helicopters, and more than 900 other pieces of military hardware.</span></p><p><span>China's Defense Ministry <a href="http://tass.com/defense/1017824" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the drills were meant to strengthen the two countries' strategic military partnership and increase their ability to respond to threats and ensure stability in the region.</span></p><p><span>Kremlin spokesman Dmirty Peskov <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-preps-for-vostok-2018-military-exercise-amid-tensions-with-nato-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> China's participation "speaks about the expansion of interaction of the two allies in all the spheres."</span></p><p><span>Chinese forces have already joined their Russian counterparts in some military exercises. </span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b871c5780eb351f008b57ec-1400/2017-12-05t101219z1221199265rc179584f810rtrmadp3china-russia.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia China police border guard" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Stringer" data-mce-caption="Chinese armed police and Russian national guards take part in a joint counter-terrorism drill in Yinchuan in China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, December 5, 2017." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Stringer</span></p><p class="caption">Chinese armed police and Russian national guards during a counter-terrorism drill in northern China, December 5, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Chinese warships have drilled with their Russian counterparts in the Pacific Ocean and the Baltic Sea. This summer, Chinese <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/here-are-the-jets-bombers-china-is-sending-to-russia-for-war-games-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">warplanes were in Russia</a> for International Army Games 2018, a multinational event. </span></p><p><span>This month, Chinese forces are taking part in Peace Mission 2018, an exercise organized by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional bloc led by Russia and China. (It's <a href="https://www.stripes.com/news/joint-war-games-in-russia-build-on-china-s-effort-to-offset-us-military-reach-1.544768" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the first</a> exercise to include all eight SCO members.)</span></p><p><span>But including China in the Vostok exercise hints at a significant geopolitical shift.</span></p><p>"China was seen as the potential threat or target in exercises like Vostok," Alexander Gabuev, an expert on China at the Carnegie Moscow Center, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/europe/russia-military-drills.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The New York Times</a>.</p><p>"But it is now being invited to join as a friend and even a quasi-ally," Gabuev added. "This is really unprecedented."</p><p><span>The Soviet Union clashed with China along their shared border several times in the 1960s - including a <a href="https://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/1969-russia-china-fought-brief-border-war-it-could-have-26240" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deadly Chinese raid</a> on a Soviet border outpost almost kicked off a full-scale war in early 1969.</span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b871f3cb354cd20008b5a48-1400/2017-09-04t025239z2054112072rc1cf7275d00rtrmadp3china-brics.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia Vladimir Putin China Xi Jinping BRICS" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Wu Hong/Pool" data-mce-caption="Chinese President Xi Jinping with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the BRICS Summit at the Xiamen International Conference and Exhibition Center in southeastern China's Fujian Province, September 4, 2017." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Wu Hong/Pool</span></p><p class="caption">Chinese President Xi Jinping with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the BRICS Summit in China, September 4, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/europe/russia-military-drills.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">normalized</a> relations with China in 1989, and some 6 million Russians in Siberia <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-gaining-from-trumps-nato-attacks-former-us-army-leader-says-2018-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">now live alongside</a> roughly 100 million Chinese in northern China, where <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKmdWFo2Grk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trade</a> relations <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2017-11/30/content_35134071.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have grown</a>.</span></p><p>But eastern Russia's vast expanse and sparse population make it a vulnerable area, and Russians there have <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/chinese-behavior-in-siberia-sparks-local-anger-against-beijing-and-moscow/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">expressed frustration</a> with the growing Chinese presence and with concessions to Chinese commercial interests.</p><p><span>Amid <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-preps-for-vostok-2018-military-exercise-amid-tensions-with-nato-2018-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">heightened tensions with the West</a>, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a concerted effort to build ties with China. Beijing, for its part, has also embraced Russia. Both have done so with an eye on the West.</span></p><p><span>Both <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-russia-military-political-partnership-us-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">have said</a> they are building a "strategic partnership" and expressed shared opposition to what they describe as a "unipolar" world dominated by the US.</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5b871f3cdcee30d30f8b5344-1400/2017-09-03t153515z1592336680rc111c8d6f40rtrmadp3china-brics.jpg" border="0" alt="Russia Vladimir Putin China Xi Jinping" data-mce-source="Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS" data-mce-caption="Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a concert in Xiamen, China, September 3, 2017." /><p class="source"><span>Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTERS</span></p><p class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping at a concert in Xiamen, China, September 3, 2017.</p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Earlier this year, Chinese Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-russia-military-political-partnership-us-2018-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">went to Moscow</a> on his first trip abroad, saying the visit was to "let the Americans know about the close ties between the armed forces of China and Russia."</span></p><p><span>"I am visiting Russia as a new defense minister of China to show the world a high level of development of our bilateral relations and firm determination of our armed forces to strengthen strategic cooperation," Wei said.</span></p><p>That rhetoric and statements about close ties don't mean that Russia has dropped its guard, Gabuev <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/world/europe/russia-military-drills.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a>, noting that Chinese troops at Vostok-18 may be limited to training areas near the countries' shared border with Mongolia, allowing Russian forces deployed elsewhere to carry out exercises designed with China in mind.</p><p>The Russian military "is not so naïve that it is not preparing a contingency plan," Gabuev told The Times.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-yuan-not-euro-could-become-global-currency-dollar-china-usa-eu-dharshini-david-2018-4">Why China's Yuan, not the Euro, could become the dominant global currency</a></h3>        <div>            <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" data-player="jwplayer" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/gotiKeOQ-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;" allowfullscreen=""></iframe><script>function receiveMessage(event){ console.log(event.data.fullscreen); Android.fullscreen(event.data.fullscreen); }window.addEventListener("message", receiveMessage, false);</script>        </div>    </div>

Russia is getting ready for war games with 300,000 troops - but the size isn't the only 'unprecedented' thing about it

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/559ff1bd69bedd4d2ef7425b-1200-858/gettyimages-472747186.jpg" alt="vladimir putin" border="0"><p class="source"><span>Alexander Aksakov/Getty Images</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div>While Ukraine is the central point of conflict between Russia and NATO, economics may be the next battlefront.</p><p>According to <span>Robert Dannenberg, a Goldman Sachs security analyst and CIA veteran, Russia's President Vladimir Putin recognizes the importance of gaining power through international economic agencies. </span></p><p><span>"Putin is conservative and nostalgic, but he also understands that it takes more than just rebuilding or modernizing your nuclear arsenal to create a bi-polar world. You need to have economic power," Dannenberg said during a Q&amp;A in a Goldman note.</span></p><p>Russia seems far from realizing these goals. Lowered oil prices and economic sanctions by NATO due to the Ukraine conflict have crippled the Russian economy in the past few years.</p><p>The country's bonds have been <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/moodys-cuts-russia-to-junk-2015-2">downgraded to junk status</a>, and its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-russian-q1-economic-contraction-less-than-feared-at-1.9-2015-5">GDP contracted 1.9%</a> in the first quarter of 2015. It does not seem that Russia is ready to flex its economic muscle. </p><p><span><span>In spite of the weak economy, Russia is attempting to boost its fortune by allying with more friendly economic powers, particularly China, and burgeoning markets.</span></span></p><p><span>According to Dannenberg, Putin's plan is twofold. The first objective is to create closer formal ties with countries that have similar economic interests. </span></p><p><span>Last week Russia hosted the BRICS summit, a meeting of economic and political leaders from the growing powers of Brazil, India, China and South Africa. Russia is also a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), which has 14 members including China, India, Iran, Pakistan and Turkey.</span></p><p>They've even <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-flirting-with-russia-to-make-europe-jealous-2015-7">begun to court Greece</a> as an economic partner in Europe.</p><p><span>Obviously based on those membership lists, Russia's main focus is maintaining strong ties with China. Dannenberg highlighted this the most important part of Putin's economic plan. </span></p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/559fee5d69bedde01ff7425b-1200-924/rtx1jnz3.jpg" alt="vladimir putin Xi Jinping brics conference russia china" border="0"><p class="source"><span>Ria Novosti/Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Russian President Vladimir Putin walks Chinese President Xi Jinping at the BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia, July 9, 2015. Ufa is hosting the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summits July 9-10.</p></img></div><p></p></div></div></p><p><span>"Putin knows that Russia's relative economic weakness means there is no possibility of achieving his vision without China's participation," said Dannenberg.</span></p><p>He noted that Putin is willing to make serious concessions to achieve the goal.</p><p>"It is why he agreed to a natural gas deal with China in the spring of 2014 despite very disadvantageous terms for Russia," he said.</p><p>In November, Russia and China struck a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-signs-gas-supply-deal-with-china-2014-11">deal to create pipelines</a> from Siberia into China and transport up to 38 billion cubic meters of gas a year and in April, Russia <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-learning-mandarin-in-the-tundra---russia-invites-china-into-oil-business-2015-4">sold a stake</a> in its Vankor oil fields to the Chinese in an unprecedented move.</p><p><span>Russia plans take aim at international economic institutions Putin believes are controlled by NATO nations. Here's Dannenberg:</span></p><blockquote class="blockquote"><p>"He has consistently articulated, especially over the last year, that all the world's major economic tools are controlled by the West and available to punish countries that don't play by Western rules, whether it is the dollar as the world's reserve currency, the governance of the International Monetary Fund, SWIFT, or Visa and MasterCard for consumer finance."</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">This notion has already been picked up by the Chinese, who in recent months have made a push for the yuan's inclusion in the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-china-knocking-on-door-of-imfs-major-league-us-wavers-2015-4">IMF's Special Drawing Rights</a> as a reserve currency or even pushing to use the SDR as the base for all investment instead of the US dollar.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><span>By connecting with China and other markets, Putin is expanding his conflict with the West from the streets of Ukraine to the economic markets of the world.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-facts-about-vladimir-putin-russia-president-2015-3">11 amazing facts about Vladimir Putin </a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="k4NTY1dDqFCsBpfiPjzGEUMzJURbWO-R" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'k4NTY1dDqFCsBpfiPjzGEUMzJURbWO-R',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Putin knows his military muscle isn't much without economic muscle

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/48439705.cms" /> Ever since <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Narendra+Modi">Narendra Modi</a> took oath as India’s Prime Minister, one area which took most of his attention was international relationships. After visiting multiple countries now, it’s <keyword id="41896" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iran">Iran</keyword> who is hopeful. Iran hopes that the Indian PM will visit Tehran to draw up a joint strategy over geo-political challenges and set up joint ventures worth billions of dollars in the petrochemicals, fertiliser and surface transport sectors.<br />
 <br /> As per the media reports, Iranian Ambassador <keyword id="2017413" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gholam-Reza-Ansari">Gholam Reza Ansari</keyword> has already sent an invite to PM Modi. "We hope that it materializes soon to give the required impetus to bilateral ties and to firm up a strategic partnership," Ansari said, adding that Modi and Iranian President <keyword id="1753604" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hasan-Rouhani">Hasan Rouhani</keyword> had a "useful meeting" in the Russian city of Ufa on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit.<br />
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Praising India’s efforts for extending help to Iran during the sanctions regime, which is now coming to an end with an agreement on Tehran's nuclear program, Ansari said, “It has brought us together. India opened a credit line which helped in easing economic pressure on the regime," adding that India's dues of $8 billion can be utilized for setting up major developmental projects in Iran.<br />
<br /> "A great potential of cooperation exists between India and Iran. Iran offers access to India through the Chahbahar and Bandar Abbas ports and through the north-south corridor to Central Asia, Afghanistan, <keyword id="6358826" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Russia">Russia</keyword>, the Caucasus region and even Turkey,” he added.<br />
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The envoy also said that India and Iran shared similar views on <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>.<br />
 <br />
Talking about the<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/There-are-parts-of-the-Iran-nuclear-agreement-so-secret-that-not-even-John-Kerry-has-seen-them-yet/articleshow/48273905.cms"> nuclear deal</a>, which has been signed by Iran with six big powers, the ambassador said that Iran always stated that its program was for peaceful and civilian purposes.<br />
 <br /> Ansari also claimed Iran has always opposed military solutions and that Oman and Quatar has endorsed the deal while <keyword id="50996" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saudi-Arabia">Saudi Arabia</keyword> still has some reservations. The envoy assured that every effort would be made to engage with the kingdom and remove its misgivings.<br />
 <br /> "The nuclear accord is a great historic development. This development has taken place when the regional political and security situation has worsened. Afghanistan, <keyword id="6354913" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Syria">Syria</keyword>, Yemen and Libya are in turmoil. It has been proved that military means have offered no solution to the crisis in the Middle east and other regions. The need of the hour is to face the threat of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=ISIS+">ISIS </a>(Islamic State), which is erasing borders and trying to create a Calaphite regime. We need strong determination as well as cooperation to eliminate this menace," the envoy said.<br />
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On Syria, he said that Russia and the United States, along with Iran, are drawing up a new plan to end civil war in the country. "One-third of the Syrian population has fled to neighboring nations. It is time to solve this issue realistically," he said, adding: "The new plan is likely to be placed before the UN very shortly."<br />
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<em>Image: indiatimes </em><br />


Iran invites Indian PM Modi to enhance strategic partnership

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55f057149dd7cc24008b903a-4723-3268/rtx1jvok.jpg" alt="putin" data-mce-source="REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin" data-mce-caption="Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacts at a news conference after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa, Russia, July 10, 2015." /><p class="source"><span>REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin</span></p><p class="caption">Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacts at a news conference after the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Ufa, Russia, July 10, 2015.</p></div><p></p></div></div>Reports that Russia is ramping up its military involvement in Syria have US officials concerned and outright skeptical over <span>Russian President Vladimir Putin's intentions.</span></p><p><span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-upping-military-intervention-in-syria-2015-9">Putin has</a> said that Russia <span>wants to "</span></span>create some kind of an international coalition to fight terrorism and extremism."</p><p>T<span>he Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed on Wednesday that Russian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/syrian-army-official-we-are-seeing-a-lot-more-russian-military-experts-these-days-2015-9">military advisors are in Syria</a> - but insisted it was just to advise</span><span> the regime in its "fight against extremists."</span></p><p><span><span>The US State Department isn't buying it.</span></span></p><p><span><span></span></span><span>"Russia is not a member of the coalition against ISIL, and what we've said is that their continued support to the Assad regime has actually fostered the growth of ISIL inside Syria and made the situation worse," State Department spokesman John Kirby <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/world/europe/us-moves-to-block-russian-military-buildup-in-syria.html?smid=tw-share&amp;_r=0">said</a> on Wednesday, using an acronym for the Islamic State (aka ISIS and Daesh). </span></p><p><span>"If they want to be helpful against ISIL, the way to do it is to stop arming and assisting and supporting Bashar al-Assad."</span></p><p><span><span>Russian drones and fighter planes are </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/putin-is-upping-military-intervention-in-syria-2015-9">surveilling non-ISIS rebels</a><span> in the country's north - Assad considers all rebels "terrorists" or "extremists" - and <span>Russian armored personnel carriers </span><a href="https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2015/09/07/are-there-russian-troops-fighting-in-syria/">with Russian-speaking troops</a><span> were involved in fighting.</span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>Russia has also set up an air-traffic-control tower and brought housing units for up to 1,000 personnel to Latakia in the country's west, and Reuters <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/us-mideast-crisis-syria-usa-idUSKCN0R91TA20150909?utm_source=twitter">reports</a> that two tank landing ships and additional aircraft have arrived.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55f05d47bd86ef1c008b8ff9-312-234/skitch syria map legend.jpg" alt="skitch syria map legend bless it" data-mce-source="IUCA/Amanda Macias/Business Insider" /><p class="source"><span>IUCA/Amanda Macias/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The news comes as al Qaeda-linked rebels took full control of the Idlib province, which borders Latakia and is just the second province no longer under government control (along with ISIS-controlled Raqqa).</span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span>"Assad has lost significant territory over the past months; Putin is not about to tolerate his ouster," geopolitical expert </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ianbremmer?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Ian Bremmer</a><span>, the president of Eurasia Group, told Business Insider in an email.</span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="p-block"><span>Over the course of the 55-month Syrian conflict, Russia has provided the Assad regime with supplies - including </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/all-sides-hedging-bets-on-flow-of-arms-to-syria/2013/05/29/6464af26-c7bf-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html">guns,</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/all-sides-hedging-bets-on-flow-of-arms-to-syria/2013/05/29/6464af26-c7bf-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html">grenades,</a><span> </span><a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/finland-busts-tank-parts-shipment-to-syria/">tank parts</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57587007/russia-to-sell-mig-jet-fighters-to-syria-jet-maker-says/?utm_source=feedly">fighter jets</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-stilling-supporting-assad-2013-5">advanced anti-ship cruise missiles</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/bashar-al-assad-says-syria-has-received-missiles-from-russia/2013/05/30/01c6ba04-c930-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html">long-range air-defense missiles</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-general-killed-by-syrian-rebels-2012-10">military officers as advisers</a><span>, </span><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/id/51940996/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/t/russia-assad-foes-must-come-syria-meeting-without-conditions/">diplomatic cover</a><span>, and </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-is-printing-money-for-syria-to-pay-government-expenses-2012-6">lots</a><span> of </span><a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/flight-records-list-russia-sending-tons-of-cash-to-syria">cash</a><span>.</span></p><p class="p-block"><span>The US is moving to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/09/world/europe/us-moves-to-block-russian-military-buildup-in-syria.html?smid=tw-share">block</a> the latest buildup by asking countries such as Greece and Bulgaria to <span>shut their airspace to Russian transport planes. Over the weekend, a <span>Russian plane reportedly landed at the same airfield in Latakia, flying over Greece and Bulgaria to transport Russian troops to Syria.</span></span></span></p><p class="p-block">Though Bulgaria has complied, Greek officials say they are still looking into the request.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55f014fdeab8ea9c27def433-7999-5818/sept9.jpg" alt="Syria map" data-mce-source="Institute for United Conflict Analysts" /><p class="source"><span>Institute for United Conflict Analysts</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Unconfirmed sightings of Russian infantry vehicles and military advisers in Syria has prompted further rumors that Putin has already put boots on the ground and may be preparing a large-scale counterterrorism operation alongside Iranian proxy militias.</p><p>The operation has less to do with fighting ISIS and more to do with countering Western actions that have bolstered rebel forces in the north and threaten to weaken Assad further. </p><p>"If the West succeeds in turning the tide of the war while Assad is vulnerable, the political outcomes in Syria are more likely to be dictated by the US," Bremmer said. "Which means Putin needs to bolster Assad now."</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55eed3eebd86ef11008b8974-1280-720/exclusive_2.jpg" alt="russia syria" data-mce-source="screenshot" /><p class="source"><span>screenshot</span></p><p class="caption">A screenshot from a video showing a Russian armored personnel carrier taking part in fighting.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Kirby reiterated that Russia's actions have not been helpful.</p><p><span>"The most productive thing that they can do, if they are serious about getting after extremist networks in Syria, is to stop arming and abetting and aiding Bashar al-Assad, the same man who has by his own brutality and violence on his own people allowed ISIL to grow and to spread inside his own country," he said.</span></p><p><span>For years, Assad has argued that he is fighting terrorism - when, in fact, the US and others have accused him of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/assads-plan-to-work-with-the-west-2014-8">facilitating the rise</a> of ISIS.</span></p><p>"The [Assad] regime is a terrorism generator of epic proportion, engaging in state terrorism against its own people and inciting terrorism from its opponents," a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/assad-is-the-best-isis-recruiting-tool-2015-8#ixzz3lGByYFXt">recent Soufan Group note reported</a>.</p><p>"There is no justifying the actions of a group like the Islamic State or al-Nusra ... but the Assad regime's wholesale slaughter of civilians provides the groups with radicalized supporters far faster than Assad's military can then fight them."</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/aerial-video-explosion-blast-site-tianjin-china-2015-8">New aerial footage shows aftermath of explosion in China</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="tkdzUxdzqidr5j3bDhTKNZS1v2q3Z4nZ" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'tkdzUxdzqidr5j3bDhTKNZS1v2q3Z4nZ',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The US just called out Russia over those 'military experts' seen in Syria

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54e2fae75afbd3f1778b4567-800-557/syrian-army-takes-ground-north-of-aleppo-blocks-road-monitor.jpg" alt="Children walk on the debris of a damaged building at al-Myassar neighborhood of Aleppo February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Hosam Katan   " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Children walk on the debris of a damaged building at al-Myassar neighborhood of Aleppo" /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Children walk on the debris of a damaged building at al-Myassar neighborhood of Aleppo</p></div><p></p></div></div>In 2010, Syria was <a href="http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/reports/270/hdr_2010_en_complete_reprint.pdf">ranked 111 out of 169 countries on the Human Development Index</a>, just behind South Africa.</p><p>But there's more to the life of a country than the maintenance of a solidly lower middle-income economic baseline. There's more to it than even peace and stability.</p><p>Since 1970, dictator Hafez al-Assad and his son and successor, Bashar al-Assad, have turned Syria into one of the world's most thorough police states.</p><p>The family hailed from the Allawi religious minority, a doctrinally secretive sect that constitutes <a href="http://www.fragilestates.org/2012/02/20/syrias-ethnic-and-religious-divides/">12% of the Syrian population</a> and was <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=Kxi5AwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT123&amp;lpg=PT123&amp;dq=musa+sadr+alawite+fatwa+1973&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=m6fT5oTZFi&amp;sig=Qd2RyXSlGAvGltCcQOwgAXOzTG0&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0CEkQ6AEwCWoVChMIgpeYlsSkyAIVgdk-Ch2AmAsx#v=onepage&amp;q=musa%20sadr%20alawite%20fatwa%201973&amp;f=false">declared a part of Shi'ite Islam</a> by the influential Lebanese cleric Musa Sadr in 1973.</p><p>The Assads secured their rule through violence: 20,000 people were killed when Hafez al-Assad <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/from-the-archive-blog/2011/aug/01/hama-syria-massacre-1982-archive">crushed an Islamist uprising</a> in the city of Hama in 1982. Syria militarily occupied Lebanon in the 1990s, meddling in the <keyword id="6358883" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Politics">politics</keyword> of their polyglot neighbor and helping the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah become the country's most dominant force.</p><p>During the American occupation of Iraq in the 2000s, Bashar al-Assad <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/world/africa/07iht-syria.1.7781943.html">aided Sunni jihadists</a> fighting the US military. The Assad regime remained stable, but only because Damascus sewed chaos in Lebanon and Iraq in order to enhance the regime's regional power and paper over the internal contradictions of its rule.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/541afdf9eab8eace052c5ca6-840-560/hafezalassadmosaic.jpg" alt="HafezAlAssadMosaic" data-mce-source="Manu Brabo/AP" data-mce-caption="A mosaic of Hafez Al Assad is seen after being shot at by FSA soldiers after heavy clashes with government forces in Tal Sheer, Syria, Sunday, Dec 16, 2012" /><p class="source"><span>Manu Brabo/AP</span></p><p class="caption">A mosaic of Hafez Al Assad is seen after being shot at by FSA soldiers after heavy clashes with government forces in Tal Sheer, Syria, Sunday, Dec 16, 2012</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>On March 18, 2011, just five weeks after mass street protests led to the resignation of Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak, Syrian government forces <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/world/middleeast/19syria.html?_r=0">killed six people during a peaceful protest in Dara'a</a>.  The "stability" that the Assads had supposedly been so effective at fostering was rapidly exposed as a fraud.</p><p>Massacres of protestors were <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-18255521">frequent occurrences</a> by the end of April, and by summer the country was in a full-blown civil war. The secular opposition later buckled under attacks from both the regime and jihadist fighters from the Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra - as well as Al Qaeda in Iraq, which used Syria's security vacuum to carve out an extensive safe-haven. Al Qaeda in Iraq later changed its name to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS. </p><p>Even during the crisis of late 2011 and early 2012, few predicted just how bad things would get. Four years later, <a href="http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/74298-150609-syrian-death-toll-may-have-passed-320-000">as many as 320,000 people</a> have been killed, while <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/11/world/syria-refugee-crisis-when-war-displaces-half-a-country/">over 11 million have been driven from their homes</a>. ISIS, a brutal jihadist group with dreams of regional and global conquest, controls much of the country's east. <keyword id="6356001" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="international">International</keyword> norms governing armed conflict have been ignored with little apparent consequence. Tens of thousands of refugees from the crisis have now made it to European countries that are often reluctant to host them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560062f55afbd35d058b4567-800-551/france-softens-stance-on-assad-departure-figaro-2015-9.jpg" alt="President Bashar al-Assad addresses his supporters at a school in an undisclosed location during an event to commemorate Syria's Martyrs' Day May 6, 2015 in this handout provided by SANA. REUTERS/SANA/Handout via Reuters " data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="President Bashar al-Assad addresses his supporters at a school in an undisclosed location during an event to commemorate Syria's Martyrs' Day " /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">President Bashar al-Assad addresses his supporters at a school in an undisclosed location during an event to commemorate Syria's Martyrs' Day </p></div><p></p></div></div>The Syria conflict didn't have to become a cascade of worst-case scenarios. Here's are three reasons why things got so bad:</p><h2><strong>Muddled policy from anti-Assad countries - and focused policy from his supporters.</strong></h2><p>Vacillation has been the hallmark of US policy towards the conflict. The US <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/ref/timestopics/syriatimeline.html?pagewanted=all">first demanded that Assad step down on August 19th, 2011</a> - and then endorsed a <a href="http://www.cfr.org/syria/annans-peace-plan-syria/p28380">Russian-supported UN peace initiative</a> in early 2012 that essentially would have required the opposition to lay down its arms. And now the US policy towards Assad's role in a post-war Syria remains unclear.</p><p>In August of 2012, President Barack Obama declared that the use of chemical weapons was a "<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/wp/2013/09/06/president-obama-and-the-red-line-on-syrias-chemical-weapons/">red line</a>" that would trigger a US military response - and then didn't attack the Assad regime after the August 2013 Ghouta chemical weapons strike, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nearly-1500-killed-in-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-us-says/2013/08/30/b2864662-1196-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html">which killed an estimated 1,400 people</a>. Washington later committed to building up secular anti-Assad forces that could also take on ISIS, a program that only sent a paltry "<a href="http://www.defensenews.com/story/defense/policy-budget/warfare/2015/09/21/syrian-train-equip-program-mission-impossible-start/72376560/">four or five fighters</a>" to the Syrian battlefield.</p><p>In contrast, Assad's supporters haven't flinched.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560ef9289dd7cc17008bf022-1787-1340/rtx13jw3.jpg" alt="putin rouhani russia iran" data-mce-source=" REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin " data-mce-caption="Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani (L) during a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, September 13, 2013. Rouhani said on Friday that he wanted a swift resolution to a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Western states fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons." /><p class="source"><span> REUTERS/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin </span></p><p class="caption">Russia's President Vladimir Putin (2nd L) shakes hands with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani (L) during a meeting at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, September 13, 2013. Rouhani said on Friday that he wanted a swift resolution to a dispute over Tehran's nuclear programme, which Western states fear is aimed at developing nuclear weapons.</p></div><p></p></div></div> The Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah lost more fighters in the battle of  Qusayr in 2012 than it did in in its entire 2006 war against Israel. And they're still active on many of Syria's front lines. Iran has provided arms, coordination, and militants recruited from Afghan and Pakistani Shi'ite communities - it's also lost <a href="http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=1032642887&amp;Country=Syria&amp;topic=Politics">a minimum of 121 of its own soldiers</a> the conflict. Russia's dispatched <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/09/21/these-are-the-28-jets-russia-now-has-in-syria/">scores of its aircraft</a> in its effort to prop Assad and has been <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/us-ambassador-russian-veto-extremely-disruptive-syria-224029921.html">blocking anti-Assad moves</a> in the diplomatic sphere <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/oct/05/russia-china-veto-syria-resolution">since the very beginning</a> of the conflict.</p><p>The US and its allies have spent the past four years trying to figure out who to support in the conflict, and how. There was never any doubt in the minds of Assad's backers, who were far more organized and more committed to the fight than their adversaries.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560c1214eab8ea9f1d601f47-1292-1247/syria-30-sept-2015-hd.jpg" alt="Syria sept 2015 map bless it" data-mce-source="Agathocle De Syracuse" data-link="http://www.agathocledesyracuse.com/" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.agathocledesyracuse.com/">Agathocle De Syracuse</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2><strong>A regime whose cruelty and desperation knows no limit.</strong> </h2><p>The Assad regime is responsible for 95% of the Syria conflict's estimated 110,000 civilian deaths, according to <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-34371501">a recent article by Charles Lister of the Brookings Institution</a>. The Ghouta chemical weapons attack killed more than 1,000 people in 4 hours and activists speak of systematic rape of detainees.</p><p>Assad's warplanes have bombed <a href="http://www.syriadeeply.org/articles/2015/07/7593/syrians-desperate-healthcare-assad-regime-barrel-bombs-hospitals/">hospitals</a> and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/08/30/syria-government-attacking-bread-lines">bread lines</a>. Caesar, the alias for a former Syrian regime military photographer, has presented expert-verified evidence that <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/10-000-bodies-inside-syrian-president-bashar-al-assads-crackdown-1406315472">an estimated 10,000 people</a> were tortured and killed inside of the regime's prisons since the uprising began. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55576ab45afbd365728b4567-800-533/us-special-forces-hit-islamic-state-in-syria-raid.jpg" alt="Smoke rises after what activists said were clashes between Al-Rahman corps and forces of  Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Al-Hajez garages, near the Damascus countryside governorate building at the southern entrance to Erbeen in the eastern Damascus suburb of Ghouta May 16, 2015. REUTERS/Amer Almohibany" data-mce-source="Thomson Reuters" data-mce-caption="Smoke rises after what activists said were clashes between Al-Rahman corps and forces of  Syria's President Assad in Al-Hajez garages, near the Damascus countryside governorate building " /><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Smoke rises after what activists said were clashes between Al-Rahman corps and forces of  Syria's President Assad in Al-Hajez garages, near the Damascus countryside governorate building </p></div><p></p></div></div>Assad and his cronies have proven they're willing to do just about anything to hang onto power. Their machinations have had a twisted creativity to them: the regime <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/russias-bombing-campaign-coulg-give-a-dangerous-boost-to-al-qaeda-in-syria-2015-9">freed jihadists from its prisons in the early days of the war</a>, hoping to hasten the buildup of a jihadist element in the insurgency so that the regime could position itself as the only guarantor of the country's stability.</p><p>And the regime's actions have been blunt and thuggish, too - in early 2015, reports emerged of soldiers in regime-controlled areas <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/desperate-for-soldiers-assads-government-imposes-harsh-recruitment-measures/2014/12/28/62f99194-6d1d-4bd6-a862-b3ab46c6b33b_story.html">forcing young men into military service</a> as the government faced critical manpower shortages.</p><p>Simply, the Syrian civil war has gotten this bad because the Assad regime has made it this bad.</p><h2><strong>A region where there are no longer any certainties. </strong></h2><p>When the Syrian uprising began in mid-2011, the rapid overthrow of the presidents of Libya, Tunisia, and Egypt, who had ruled their countries for a combined 92 years, seemed like they'd be the defining Middle Eastern political events of their era.</p><p>No regime seemed safe - even Bahrain, a Gulf monarchy that hosted a large US military base, needed to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/world/middleeast/15bahrain.html">call in the Saudi National Guard</a> to quash a peaceful popular uprising. Back then, the entire Middle Eastern state system looked brittle, perhaps even primed for collapse. Autocracy and secularism looked like losing bets, especially after the election of Islamist parties during open elections in both Egypt and Tunisia.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/560ef9b3bd86ef21008bef13-1700-1275/rtr3wj9q.jpg" alt="isis tank syria" data-mce-source="Reuters" data-mce-caption="Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along a street in northern Raqqa province on June 30, 2014" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Militant Islamist fighters take part in a military parade along a street in northern Raqqa province on June 30, 2014</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>But things changed. After the rise of ISIS, the US seems grateful for any source of perceived order in the Middle East - Secretary of State John Kerry even offered a <a href="http://www.vox.com/2015/9/30/9429039/syria-russia-kerry-lavrov">limited endorsement of Russian airstrikes</a> in Syria during a joint press conference with Russia's foreign minister on September 30th. </p><p>The Iran nuclear deal has allies scrambling to adjust to a new regional order: Iran <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/06/world/middleeast/conflicting-claims-cloud-irans-financial-gain-in-nuclear-deal.html">might stand to get some $100 billion in sanctions relief</a>, and its leaders, including president Hassan Rouhani, talk about the deal as<a href="http://www.timesofisrael.com/full-text-of-rouhanis-2015-address-to-the-un-general-assembly/"> a cornerstone of a new Middle Eastern status quo</a>.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55f85426bd86ef13008ba726-4815-3714/isis sanctuary 15 sept 2015-01.png" alt="September 15 ISIS Syria Iraq map" data-mce-source="Institute for the Study of War" data-link="http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/isis-sanctuary-map-september-15-2015" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/isis-sanctuary-map-september-15-2015">Institute for the Study of War</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p> </p><p>Adversaries are arming themselves in expectation of long-term tensions: even tiny Qatar is <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/america-sells-patriots-to-qatar-2014-7">purchasing billions in US Patriot missiles;</a> several tons of illicit arms just <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/bahrain-recalls-ambassador-iran-meddling-151002032510372.html">popped up in a warehouse in Bahrain</a>, likely part of an Iranian-backed effort to overthrow the island's monarch. The region is messy, fragmented, and more militarized than ever. </p><p>The situation in Syria, which pits Sunnis against Shi'ites, jihadists against autocrats, and Russia and Iran against the US and its partners, is like a convergence of longstanding Middle Eastern issues. And in a post-Arab Spring, post-ISIS, post-Iran Deal world, the solutions are hard to come by.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/animated-map-migrant-refugee-crisis-syria-2015-9">Here's how the migrant crisis is spreading through Europe and the Middle East</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="Uzcm1wdzp-hIst-ekTe-5_PY7Wn5L_bk" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'Uzcm1wdzp-hIst-ekTe-5_PY7Wn5L_bk',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You Searched For "SCO Summit" and got 10 results

Malabar Exercise kicks off today with the QUAD countries reuniting after over a decade

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68 Russian track and field athletes won't be able to compete in the Rio Olympics

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Putin knows his military muscle isn't much without economic muscle

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Iran invites Indian PM Modi to enhance strategic partnership

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Full transcript of PM Narendra Modi's TV interview

BI India Bureau