This book is the first to offer a comprehensive survey of Moscow's foreign policy interests in Syria. The author considers the Kremlin's diplomacy on Syria within the broader system of Russian foreign policy in the Middle East; he analyses the influence of Russian domestic dimensions on Moscow's approaches to the subject; and he considers how Moscow's priorities in Syria have evolved during the last five years and what factors influenced this evolution. _x000B_Key factors considered include:_x000B_- Russian presence in the Middle East before and after the fall of the Soviet Union_x000B_- The c.