FOR 50 YEARS Russia’s foothold within the Mediterranean has been certain up with the Assad dynasty in Syria. It was in 1971 that Hafez al-Assad—father of Bashar, Syria’s dictator till final week—turned president of the nation. And it was the identical yr that the Soviet Union signed a take care of Syria to lease a port at Tartus on Syria’s coast. That enduring Russian navy presence now hangs by a thread, following the swift collapse of the Assad regime. The Kremlin seems to have averted a panicked and disorderly departure, however its affect on NATO’s southern flank is more likely to wane.
