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Symposium on Syria and Afghanistan as Client States of Russia/Soviet Union

Image of marine conducting security on Afghan village road for Operation Enduring Freedom. 
September 18, 2017
All Day
Location: The Mershon Center (not the Auditorium) for International Security Studies, 1501 Neil Ave.

Speakers:
Dr. Amr Al-Azm, Associate Professor of Middle East History and Anthropology at Shawnee State University - Dr. Alazm will address Syria and the Levant.
Dr. Alam Payind, Director of the Middle East Studies Center - Dr. Payind will address Afghanistan.
Dr. Richard Herrmann, Director of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science - "The Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy"


Background:
1979-1989 in Afghanistan, Soviets occupied the country to prevent its client state form collapsing. Currently Russia is treating Syria as a client state in some similar ways. Afghanistan remains a struggling democracy, often falling into "failed state" category since that time. The Syrian State - perhaps even worse - is currently almost nonexistent in terms of functional centralized institutions.

This symposium will dig deeper into the two countries' situations, answering such questions as:

  • What are the similarities and differences with regard to the relationship with Russia/Soviets?
  • What role are the regional rivalries (Iran and Saudi Arabia) or intervention (Turkey) playing

RSVP here: https://mesc.osu.edu/syriaafghanistan-symposium

Survey: http://go.osu.edu/SAS-9-18-2017

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Cosponsored by the Mershon Center for International Security Studies and the Middle East Studies Center.

Contact information and how to become a member of our community:

For more information about this or other activities, please get in contact with the Middle East Studies Center, (614) 292-5897  To support our programs please go to our development page or consider joining our team!

Parking and Accessibility

Parking is available in the 9th Ave (East) Garage, and meters on Neil Avenue.  Payment for parking can be made by meters or through the campus parc smartphone app (note that any visitor spot can be made into a disability spot if paid for through the app). Further parking accessibility information is located here.

Please let us know if you have questions concerning access, or need to request accommodations for a disability. Early requests are encouraged, and a week will generally allow OSU units to provide seamless access.