Part III: Finding Answers for Tomorrow - What is the ultimate legacy of the Syrian Civil War? What does it say about the US, what does it say about Russia and the larger consequence of great power politics? Finally, we determine which model is superior: The Afghan Model, or the Chechen Model.Published 7-30-2018Intro/Outro music by Komiku.Hosted, wr…

Part II: Rising from the Ashes - In this second episode, we discuss the state of the Russian state and military after the Cold War and its eventual transformation into a thoroughly modern bureaucracy capable of challenging a US intervention abroad. We detail Russia's intervention in Syria and try to understand how it managed to beat out the US-Afgh…

In 2015, the US and Russia squared off in Syria. As of today, Russia has emerged victorious. How did Russia manage to transform itself from the chaos of the post-Cold War era into an international power capable of blunting a US intervention? Does the US's defeat in Syria signal the end of American hegemony? Has violent great power competition retur…