
This image taken from video provided by the Syrian activist-based media group Syrian Revolutionary Command Council in Hama, shows smoke rising after a Russian airstrike hit buildings in the town of Latamna in eastern Syria, Oct. 7, 2015. AP/BTA
The notion of Russia as a “spoiling power” is a popular sentiment these days in Washington, Ivan Krastev, chairman of Bulgaria-based Center for Liberal Strategies, writes in the The New York Times.
“Is Russia in Syria simply for the sport of watching a humiliated President Obama? Is damaging the value of American power the only purpose of Russia’s “spoiling”?, the author asks.
According to Krastev, Russia “is in Syria for pedagogical reasons”, trying “to teach Americans a lesson”.
What lesson? You can find out when you read here the whole opinion piece here.