Comic: Syria
Syriana
The United States and its allies have been pressuring Russia (and China) to condemn Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, who has tried to brutally suppress a popular uprising — spawned by the "Arab spring" protests — that is threatening to turn into a full-blown civil war.
Russia sees U.S. and Western interference in the affairs of post-Soviet satellite states as further encroachment on its political and economic spheres of influence, and has resisted calls to take a hard line against its ally.
Roberto De Vido is a communications consultant, writer, cartoonist and jack of many trades. The former chief of Tucson Sentinel’s East Asia Bureau, he now lives in California (make of that what you will).
“What we’ve seen recently is there are still issues that divide the United States and Russia, on issues where there aren’t common interests.”
— James Goldgeier, dean of the American University School of International Service, quoted at CNN.com
