Bashar al-Assad has been overthrown, fleeing Damascus after a fast insurgent advance. But the Syrian dictator is way from the one president prone to be despairing at present, for Vladimir Putin is one other huge loser right here.
For Putin, the collapse of the Syrian regime and removing of Assad from energy poses two essential issues. Firstly, it represents a essential strategic loss. Secondly, it represents a stark decline in Russia’s international status.
Russia now appears nearly sure to completely lose each its naval base at Tartus and its air base at Latakia, its solely such bases within the Middle East. The lack of Tartus is especially painful, as the bottom allowed Russia to conduct sustained floor and submarine operations within the Mediterranean Sea, and served as a conduit for operations into the Indian Ocean. This energy, and the worldwide status it granted, is now gone. With the Russian Black Sea fleet already locked out of most of these waters beneath risk of Ukrainian assault, Moscow has misplaced everlasting entry to any warm-water ports — an enormous dent to Putin’s international ambitions.
