Putin Is No Ally Against ISIS

Russia’s indiscriminate bombing of population centers in Syria by Russia may temporarily save the Assad regime, but is threatening the region and Europe, too, argues George Soros, financier and philanthropist, in an essay for Project Syndicate. “There is no reason to believe [Russian President Vladimir Putin] intervened in Syria in order to aggravate the European refugee crisis," he writes. "Indeed, his intervention was a strategic blunder because it embroiled him in a conflict with Turkey’s president…. But once Putin saw the opportunity to hasten the EU’s disintegration, he seized it.” Russia and Europe each confront severe challenges: Several countries in Europe have unmanageable levels of debt, demanding immediate reforms in entitlement programs. Oil prices are low, and Russia could go bankrupt in 2017 as foreign debt is due and sanctions for the interventions in Crimea and Ukraine take their toll. Putin would prefer that the European economy and politics disintegrate before Russia’s do and thus bring an end to sanctions. Exacerbation of the refugee crisis encourages the dangerous mixture of extremism in the Middle East and far-right politics for Europe. – YaleGlobal