Aftandilian in The Arab Weekly on Putin’s Gulf Visit
Gregory Aftandilian, Lecturer at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published a recent Op-Ed on the significance of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to the Gulf states which coincided with the pullout of United States troops from northern Syria.
Aftandilian’s Op-Ed, entitled “Putin’s Visit to the Gulf Underscores Strong Signs of Diminishing US Role,” was published in The Arab Weekly on October 19, 2019.
From the text of the article:
The royal treatment afforded Russian President Vladimir Putin during his recent visit to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates came at a precipitous time that underscored how prominent Arab countries are questioning US commitments.
Although Putin’s visit was in the works for some time, it was not lost on observers and analysts in the Middle East and the United States that it coincided with the controversy surrounding US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of northern Syria and abandon Washington’s Kurdish allies, allowing Turkish troops to occupy the area and kill many Kurds in the process.
Not only did Trump’s green light to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan allow this to happen but it permitted Russia to extend its influence even more in Syria. Footage of a Russian journalist in an abandoned US military camp in northern Syria, showing off US food and equipment, highlighted the consequences, in addition to the terrible human toll, of the United States’ decision to “cut and run.”
Gregory Aftandilian, a consultant, scholar, and lecturer, is an adjunct faculty member at Boston University and American University. He is also an associate of the Middle East Center at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell and a Senior Fellow for the Middle East at the Center for National Policy in Washington, D.C. He spent over 21 years in government service, most recently on Capitol Hill where he was foreign policy adviser to Congressman Chris Van Hollen (2007-2008), professional staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and foreign policy adviser to Senator Paul Sarbanes (2000-2004), and foreign policy fellow to the late Senator Edward Kennedy (1999).