![By Christiaan Triebert (Flickr: Azaz, Syria) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](/sites/default/files/styles/news_and_events_image/public/events-images/Azaz%2C_Syria.jpg?itok=ZiMoWr_Y "By Christiaan Triebert (Flickr: Azaz, Syria) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons")
This webinar (sign-on instructions below) takes place at 11:30 Eastern Time. The experts will consider Syria and Afghanistan in terms of their roles or potential roles as client states of Russia/Soviet Union.
Speakers:
Dr. Amr Al-Azm, Associate Professor of Middle East History and Anthropology at Shawnee State University - Dr. Alazm will address Syria and the Levant.
Dr. Alam Payind, Director of the Middle East Studies Center - Dr. Payind will address Afghanistan.
1979-1989 in Afghanistan, Soviets occupied the country to prevent its client state form collapsing. Currently Russia is treating Syria as a client state in some similar ways. Afghanistan remains a struggling democracy, often falling into "failed state" category since that time. The Syrian State - perhaps even worse - is currently almost nonexistent in terms of functional centralized institutions.
This one-hour, lunch break, webinar will dig deeper into the two countries' situations, answering such questions as:
- What are the similarities and differences with regard to the relationship with Russia/Soviets?
- What role are the regional rivalries (Iran and Saudi Arabia) or intervention (Turkey) playing?
