Can the United States and Russia Cooperate? Analyzing the results of bilateral and multilateral cooperation on the Syrian conflict

The discourse regarding US/Russia relations focuses intensely on the competitive nature between these two powers. Policy makers echo strategies of the past by making recommendations which embrace competitiveness and mutual mistrust as unavoidable characteristics for future relations. Although these perspectives are not entirely misled, they fall short of illustrating the finer nuances of relations. This paper offers an extensive analysis of three instances of cooperation between the US and Russia in Syria between 2011 and 2017 in order to offer concrete observations about how these antagonistic powers work together. The analysis shows that although the US and Russia are competitive and often have opposing agendas, this does not necessarily prevent them from cooperative engagement that produces substantive results. Their polarity can even contribute to more effective cooperation. This paper also draws conclusions about what circumstances improve the effectiveness of US/Russia cooperation and makes recommendations for future mutual efforts in Syria.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.A.

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies Program

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Oregon

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Ward, Peter

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Hessler, Julie

• Bilateral
• Cooperation
• Russia
• Syria
• United Nations
• United States

Statement dc:rights

• All Rights Reserved.

Language dc:language.iso

en_US

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/22687

OAI record oai:identifier

https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/server/oai/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=dim&identifier=oai%3Ascholarsbank.uoregon.edu%3A1794%2F22687