Dina Lisnyansky: Russia and Iran are winning the war in Syria for Bashar Al-Assad

Is there any way out of the migrant crisis

The so-called migrant crisis – is, on the one hand, a result of long-standing lack of organization on the part of the authorities, including in countries such as Britain and Germany. It hasn’t been specified from the outset how many migrants should be received in every particular country in accordance to certain laws. On the other hand, it’s a consequence of migration from countries whose culture isn’t always compatible with the culture of European countries. By culture I largely mean the way people perceive religion. Religion plays a key part not only in the way of life of Muslim migrants coming to Europe, but in their understanding of the world in general. They don’t really separate religion from politics, and it’s absolutely unacceptable in countries such as Britain and France.

But when Angela Merkel talks about a migrant crisis as a whole she means the sense of insecurity that has been increasingly growing in Europe. The problem is that at present European authorities mostly engage in putting out fires instead of carrying out preventive measures in order to prevent these fires from happening in the first place. And «fire prevention» in the realm of security unfortunately leads to the encroachment on the so-called individual freedoms. It implies a more active surveillance, telephone tapping, browsing social media accounts and private messages of those who are under suspicion. These things are totally inconsistent with our ideas of where the boundaries of our personal liberty lie. And European countries will have to think about what’s more important to them – security or the boundaries of a personal liberty. Everyone has been talking about that for a very long time now – from authorities themselves to experts and journalists. Yet little has been done in this area, because everyone understands that Europe rests on certain values, and nobody wants to compromise on them. The majority of us wants to live in a free world.

At present Britain is one of the most progressive countries when it comes to preventive measures. Although the special programme in this area was launched there too late, it already has a certain success rate. In Italy where similar programmes exist as well, the situation is in some ways better because it uses a more radical approach to solving the security issues. For example, people can be deported from there on different grounds related to security which rarely happens in Britain. In addition, for decades it had been easier to tap phones in Italy than in other European countries where a special permission was required.

It can’t be said that a particular European country is more successful at this than others. Something works, something doesn’t. But it’s important to understand that banning burqa and niqab won’t solve the problem. It’s just an attempt to remove the symptom that doesn’t lead to anything good, distorting the most important message of a liberal Europe – individual freedom, freedom of expression, of wearing whatever one likes whenever one likes. By trying to visibly remove as many women who dress a certain way as they can countries only create new problems.

Of course security and personal boundaries are also symptoms, but these are more telling symptoms, allowing one to get to the root of the problem.

A way out of this crisis can be found only if an absolutely clear-cut immigration policy with clearly-written rules as to how a person should be received in a country is developed. These rules will have to imply some form of interference with external manifestations of religion – but it’s not about someone’s appearance, it’s about politics and social life. Religion should only be a part of a person’s private life and not affect those around him. If such rules turn into laws, as it’s currently being done in Switzerland, there will be a chance to establish some sort of status quo.

Besides, everyone are afraid to talk about this, because it’s not considered politically correct, but there should be migrant quotas specifying the compatibility of a particular culture with European culture, because this incompatibility is a serious issue. For example, people would need to answer specific questions and sign a legal document that sets out conditions the violation of which could lead to a deportation from a country.

How the story with a downed Russian warplane will end and who’s winning the war in Syria

The Israeli Security Service officially stated that all information regarding Syrian anti-missile system that fired at Israeli planes but hit a Russian plane as a result had been shared with Russia. Israel is working with Russia, gives it access to the investigation of the incident. When it took place, Israeli plane had already been on Israeli territory so it’s clear that it wasn’t Israel’s provocation, and anti-aircraft weapons simply fired too late and at the wrong plane.

But there was nothing surprising to Israel in Russia’s initial reaction to the incident. Let’s call it the anti-Semitic propaganda – the variation of «if there’s no water in the tap…».

However, judging by the similar episodes between Russia and Israel in the past, it can be said that these countries have quite good relations. There are cooperative agreements regarding the security of the planes and the Syrian territory as a whole. It’s highly likely that this conflict will be beautifully resolved, because Israel has zero interest in damaging relations with Russia, and it’s not in Russia’s interest yet as well. I don’t think that it would wish to escalate the situation considering that Israel basically helps it to solve Syrian problems.

What with regards to the Syrian conflict in general, it’s safe to say that Russia and Iran are winning this war for Bashar Al-Assad. They help him to stay in power, thinking that any other option would lead to the instability in the region and provide an opportunity to prolong the war that has been going on for too long. But they’re trying to finish it not only fighting against ISIS and other terrorist groups in the region such as Jabhat al-Nusra, but also terrorizing all the other opposing sides. Now the Kurds are virtually the only party left of all the Syrian opposition, and they are allies of almost all sides apart from Assad. Besides that, there are some pockets of ISIS and other terrorist groups in the Syrian Golan Heights.

If Assad stays, the country will be effectively ruled by Russia and Iran. Some parts of it will remain with the US. And don’t forget the other side in this conflict – Turkey. It’ll be interesting to see how big its influence is going to be in Syria, and what it gets in the end.

It’d be better if the US was more involved in this conflict, but it deliberately chose to step aside. When it’s in line with their interests, Americans don’t mind to leave room for other countries. They occupied a rather large territory along the border between Syria and Iraq – it’s considered to be inviolable, and they are present there primarily for security reasons. They look to the future and think that they should be on the closest border to Iran in order to ensure maximum control over the situation.