Introduction
Russia has become a global player in the international security arena. Russia seems to enjoy massive influence in the direction of the Syrian crisis and strategies that the international community has tried to apply to resolve the crisis. Specifically, Russia has assumed a proactive role as the negotiator to convince the Syrian government, under the leadership of Assad, to attend and participate in the peace negotiations. At the same time, the international community and the United Nations Security Council has accused Russia of playing a double standard in the peace process. Specifically, Russia has been accused of being a supporter of the Syrian government in sustaining the crisis. This could be as a result of the long economic partnership it has with the Assad’s regime (Barry, par. 5).
On the other hand, the current crisis in Ukraine has painted Russia as an opportunistic state, which is more than willing to expand its territorial boundary despite the imminent crisis in Ukraine. Being a close ally of the immediate former president of Ukraine, Russia has openly defied the call by the international community and the United Nations Security Council to pull out of Crimea (Shear and Smale, par. 6). The activities of Russia in the Syrian crisis and occupancy of the Crimea region has attracted open criticism and threats from the international community. If Russia does not take an alternative direction, Moscow is likely to lose its friends in the international community. Thus, this research proposal will aim at providing evidence on the reasons behind the quick condemnation of Russia by its friends in the international community.
Significance statement
It is important to understand the impact of conflict on the state of relationship between countries. The type and nature of relationship may determine the scope of trade, military alliances, and other social benefits. The world has become a global village, and no country can survive on its own. Basically, countries depend on the local and international community friends to push for their interests in trade, politics, and security. Thus, establishing the reasons behind strong criticism and threat on Russia by its international allies may provide a clear picture of the significance of a healthy political, economic, and social relationship between Russia and the rest of the world. Specifically, the threats and open condemnation will be related to the actions of Russia in the Syrian crisis and the current military take-over of the Crimea region.
Research question
Is Russia losing its friends in the international community?
Hypothesis
Null hypothesis
Russia is quickly losing its friends in the international community due to its actions in the Syrian crisis and military activities in Crimea.
Alternative hypothesis
Russia is not quickly losing its friends in the international community due to its actions in the Syrian crisis and military activities in Crimea.
Literature review
Russia has faced open criticism from most of its international allies such as China, the US, European Union, and the Middle Eastern bloc. Besides, the United National Security Council, which Russia is a member, has condemned the action of Russia to reject the proposal of ending the Syrian crisis through military actions and economic sanctions. In an interesting and unpopular move, the Moscow leadership exercised its veto powers as member of the United Nations Security Council to stop the airstrikes by NATO and other friendly blocks in Syria (Brodsky, par. 5). In fact, Russia was the only member of the council to openly distance itself from the “the publication of the proposal as an official Security Council document” (Baetz, par. 5) in the year 2012.
The official position of Russia was that “the situation doesn’t present a threat to international peace and security since Syria is a very important country in the Middle East and destabilizing Syria would have repercussions far beyond its borders” (Seib, par. 13). Unlike the other members of the council, who shares same position on global issues and are long term business allies, Russia’s defiance was extended to now continuous but infamous support of the inhuman actions that Assad’s government commit against the Syrian citizens (Kreutz 2).
According to the United Nations’ international intelligence, Russia has been in the forefront of secretly supporting Assad in “starving the rebellious areas of Homs into submission, buying time on the slow-moving dismantlement of chemical weapons, or parading aircraft carriers along the Syrian coast just to remind everyone what an unfortunate idea aerial strikes would be” (Barry, par. 7). This has attracted criticism from the least expected allies such as China, Saudi Arabia, and national across the Eastern Europe.
The current crisis in Crimea has been condemned by most of Russia’s international allies. Despite the arguments presented by the Russian government to support their action to take-over Crimea, the Moscow leadership has never convinced its military allies such as the US, France, Turkey, and China (Shear and Smale, par. 6). As a spontaneous response to the currently unpopular move by Russia, the US, NATO, and several countries in Europe suspended their military, economic, and social partnerships with Moscow. This diplomatic crisis is currently threatening to explode into a full war of words. Besides, the US placed several economic sanctions on senior Russian government officials, who the internal community believes are the forces behind President Putin’s decision to extend the Russian territory into Crimea (Shear and Smale, par. 9).
Politically speaking, the action of Russia defied the international boundary sovereignty besides threatening the international peace (Chaney 401). At present, the former international allies of Russia such as the US, European Union, Middle Eastern bloc, China, and Ukraine are discussing the possibility of a military action against their former ally in protest of encroachment into the Ukraine’s geographical territory (Lea 6).
Methodology
Since this research is discovery oriented and subjective, the researcher will use secondary data through a quantitative research analysis. This approach is informed by the rationale of purpose and continuity since the researcher will have the opportunity to carry out any further analysis. The researcher will remain impartial and only relate to the findings within scope of the study. As a result, it will be easy to test for reliability and validity of the data collection methods and actual data collected. The research will concentrate on the current reports on the actions of Russia in the Syrian crisis and military invasion of the Crimea region.
The researcher will build of the previous relationship between Russia and its international allies, and how the current actions are affecting its economic, political, and military relationships. The findings will be supported by credible information sources that represent the position of the Russia’s allies in the international community on the Moscow’s unpopular actions.
Works Cited
Baetz, Juergen 2011, Medvedev: Syria must not go the same way as Libya. Web.
Barry, Anya 2012, Adding fuel to Syria’s fire. Web.
Brodsky, Mathew 2012, Russia’s show of Syrian force. Web.
Chaney, Eric. “Democratic Change in the Arab World, Past and Present.” Harvard Review 23.1(2012): 363-414. Print.
Kreutz, Andrej. Russia in the Middle East: friend or foe? Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. Print.
Lea, David. A Political Chronology of the Middle East, London, United Kingdom: Europa Publications, 2011. Print.
Seib, Gerald 2013, Russia, China take on expansionary roles. Web.
Shear, Michael and A. Smale 2014, Russia is ousted from Group of 8 by U.S. and allies. Web.