As the Bulgarian political analyst Ivan Krastev recently noted, Putin – a long-time ally of Assad – is doing his best to promote the idea that Western efforts to promote good governance lead only to volatility. “Rather than bringing about reforms,” Putin declared in a recent address to the UN General Assembly, “aggressive foreign interference has resulted in…violence, poverty, and social disaster.”
当然，像俄罗斯总统普京这样的专制人物对推动这样的二分法兴趣浓厚。保加利亚政治分析家克拉斯杰夫最近指出，阿萨德的长期盟友普京正竭力宣传西方促进良好治理的努力所换来只有动荡。普京在面向联合国大会的最近一次讲话中说，“激进的外交干预不仅没能带来改革，反而引发了暴力、贫困和社会灾难。”俄国试图在叙利亚战场上证明，按照这样的逻辑，阿萨德领导的强势政府能够带来相反的效果。