STRATEGIC STUDIES QUARTERLY ♦ WINTER 2014 [ 95 ] Dr. Matthew Crosston, professor of political science, is the Miller Chair for Industrial and Inter- national Security and Director of the International Security and Intelligence Studies (ISIS) program at Bellevue University. His research agenda continues to address counterterrorism, intelligence analysis, failed democratization, and cyber war/ethics. He earned a BA degree from Colgate, an MA from the University of London, and a PhD from Brown. Cold War and Ayatollah Residues Syria as a Chessboard for Russia, Iran, and the United States Matthew D. Crosston Abstract Many Western accounts conlate Russian and Iranian support for the Assad regime as purposeful recalcitrance against US policy and inter- ests. More nuanced analysis, however, reveals two agendas not really concerned with the United States: Russia’s support of Syria is motivated by global positioning, while Iran’s support is inluenced by concerns for regional hegemony vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). In both these scenarios, sentiment against US policy is not the engine driving Russian and Iranian strategies. his is indica- tive of a somewhat myopic Western tendency to lens the agendas of other states through their relative positioning with the United States. In this case, the habit undermines properly understanding two important players in the Syrian crisis and beyond in the Middle East region. he tendency to make itself the sun in a Copernican foreign policy universe handicaps the United States by impairing its diplomatic vision and re- tarding options for real interaction. his analysis dissects the Russian and Iranian positions from their own perspectives, highlighting the con- sequences they may have not only on the Assad regime into the future, but on relations between Iran, Russia, and the United States. ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ Much has been made about continued Russian and Iranian support for the Assad regime during the tumultuous and deadly Syrian uprising. Most Western accounts have conlated these support initiatives together