Russia is calling for a post-Soviet-style federatsiya – not federalism – in Syria.
![Local Syrian shop sell mugs with photos of Bashar al-Assad, Vladmir Putin, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nassrallah, and the national Syrian flag in the old city of Damascus, Syria [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/3045bcf3bcab4490849e8401208330a9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)

Vicken Cheterian is a lecturer in international relations at the University of Geneva and at Webster University Geneva.
Russia is calling for a post-Soviet-style federatsiya – not federalism – in Syria.
![Local Syrian shop sell mugs with photos of Bashar al-Assad, Vladmir Putin, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nassrallah, and the national Syrian flag in the old city of Damascus, Syria [EPA]](/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/3045bcf3bcab4490849e8401208330a9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180&quality=80)