25 January, 2017   

On 25 January 2017, the Euro-Gulf Information Centre hosted an important event called Il campo di battaglia in Siria: strategie militari a confronto (The Battlefield in Syria: Military Strategies and Confrontation) that dealt with the military strategies of the main powers involved in the Syrian conflict.

The two speakers were: 

1. Colonel Giuseppe Morabito—(former) Director of the Middle East Faculty, NATO Defence College

2. Dr Daniele Scalea—Director of Istituto Alti Studi di Geopolitica e Scienze Ausiliarie

The debate was opened by EGIC President, Dr Mitchell Belfer, who, after welcoming the guests, spoke of the importance of viewing the Syrian conflict beyond the deafening propaganda and through a truly informed perspective. The audience represented diverse groups ranging from scholars to professionals and government officials in the area of analysis, research and decision-making in the Middle East.

The debate began with a brief overview of the conflict by Dr Scalea who summarised the events since the commencement of the civil war as a protest movement. Dr Scalea described the different layers and dimensions of the conflict: the socio-economic, political and sectarian layers and the domestic, regional and international dimensions.

Colonel Giuseppe Morabito spoke about the strategic aspects of the conflict. Making extensive use of maps, he highlighted the geography of the fighting, a fundamental  element to be factored in the negotiation calculus. He also spoke of the de facto partition that is taking place on the ground in Syria with the regime and Iran interested in maintaining territorial contiguity with Lebanon, Russia aiming at maintaining a path to the Mediterranean, Turkey interested in protecting its border areas and dealing territorial contiguity for the Kurds, the rebels aiming at maintaining control over Eastern Syria.

In the discussion and Q&A part that followed, the public asked many questions in particular about the changing role of the great powers in the region, Donald Trump's potentially isolationist US and Vladimir Putin's interventionist Russia. These global shifts will undoubtedly have decisive impact on regional events—throughout the Middle East and Europe. 

We at EGIC stand ready to analyse such events and look forward to welcoming you to our next events and activities.