Syrian political scientist Salam Kawakibi, the director of the Paris Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, is critical of the West for its weak reaction to Russia’s involvement in the wars in Syria and Ukraine.
And during the Kyiv Post’s “Bringing Peace to Syria & Ukraine” conference, held in the InterContinental Kyiv on June 18, Kawakibi said it was important to talk about the Syrian and Ukrainian wars together.
Originally from Syria, Kawakibi is currently based in Paris. He has been studying politics of the Arab world for 25 years.
People around the world should have solidarity with those suffering from repression and occupation, no matter where they are, he said.
“Even if (the wars in Syria and Ukraine) are not completely similar, we have many common points — mainly Russia’s expansionism and intervention, and its lack of respect for any international rules or resolutions,” Kawakibi told the Kyiv Post.
He said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin gets his country involved in wars to distract the Russian population from internal problems, like Russia’s weak economy.
“He needs to make war to have a national solidarity around him, and unfortunately it works,” Kawakibi said.
The researcher added that Putin can get away with such behavior because of the West’s weak reaction.
Kawakibi also said the Syrian war doesn’t get enough attention from the European Union and the United States: they only care about the refugee issue and terrorism, but these are only the effects of a deeper problem — tyranny.
“The origin of the phenomenon of refugees and terrorism is despotism and the repression of the Syrian people,” Kawakibi said. “The Syrian people started the revolution very peacefully, but unfortunately with this indifference, with this impunity, some of them have become more and more radical,” he said.
Kawakibi said the West should impose more severe sanctions on Syria and Russia, as well as have proper negotiations and make serious demands that Russia accept the democratic process in Syria and Ukraine.
However, Kawakibi said this appears to be impossible in the current situation, as many political parties in European countries are under the influence of Russia, and U. S. President Donald Trump also seems to be in favor of Putin.
“It’s a hopeless case. We have many parties protected by Putin that came to power in Europe — in Austria, Italy, and Hungary. They are extreme right-wing or populist parties, supported by the Russian administration either indirectly or directly.”
Kawakibi said he believes that one of Putin’s goals is to destroy the European Union as a political project and “he is doing well in that direction.”
He said that there would only be a stronger reaction from the EU if European countries recognized that there was a real threat to the union.
“If Europe sees a threat that the EU could be destroyed, that will be an alarm bell for it,” Kawakibi said.
