The Afghan scenario would be the best for Syria – Kortunov
The assertion that improving the situation in Syria is the responsibility of the Syrians themselves does not meet the interests of either the country's neighbors or major foreign policy players.
The scientific director of the Russian International Affairs Council, Andrei Kortunov, announced this today at a press conference in Moscow, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"The current situation is such that behind every influential group in Syria there are external partners, sponsors, donors. Syria is not only a problem for Syrians, but an international one. What is happening now will affect both Syrian neighbors and the great powers that are responsible for stability in the Middle East," Kortunov said.
He believes that Syria's neighbors will adhere to the tactics of "situational opportunism," taking advantage of instability to solve their own private problems, while major players, despite contradictions, agree on the need to preserve Syria as an integral state.
"Of the many possible scenarios for the development of events in Syria, it seems to me that the most favorable is the Afghan scenario. That is, the establishment of a centralized government in Damascus, perhaps not completely inclusive, with the preservation of forces opposing it, the prevention of a humanitarian catastrophe - and the gradual, very slow, legitimization of this government through negotiations with the main partners in the region and beyond, provided that Syria remains a single state and does not disintegrate into several mini-states," Kortunov said.
The Afghan scenario would be the best for Syria – Kortunov