Why is Russia reconstructing Syria鈥檚 ancient sites?
Why is Russia reconstructing Syria鈥檚 ancient sites? Dr Gertjan Plets (Cultural History) wrote about the Russian interference in Syria in The American research journal OZY.
鈥淩ussia is trying, through UNESCO, to get international teams involved in Syrian projects supported by the U.N. cultural agency. Its goal? If you have Russia and Western nations working together through UNESCO, it鈥檚 basically an acknowledgment (by the West) of the Assad regime鈥, Plets says.
The Middle East
Plets notes that Russia鈥檚 efforts may point to a wider plan to wield influence beyond Syria and into the broader Middle East, its biggest arms market. 鈥淲e should never forget that (Russian state energy conglomerate) Gazprom are involved in projects in the Middle East鈥, he adds.