International Actors’ Role in the Syrian Crisis. Interview with Nourhan El Sheikh, Professor of International Relations, Cairo University, Member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs

Abstract

Professor Nourhan El Sheikh is a Professor of International Relations, Faculty of Economics & Political Science, Cairo University, Member of the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs. She is the author of Russian-American Relations from Cold War to Cold Peace [El Sheikh 2018], Soviet and Russian Attitudes toward Arab Unity from the Beginning of the 20th Century to the Present [El Sheikh 2013], Russian Foreign Policy in the Middle East in the 21st Century [El Sheikh 2010], Role of the ruling elite in the restructuring of foreign policy - A study of the Russian situation (1985-1996) [El Sheikh 2000]. Prof. El Sheikh regularly gives lectures at Nasser Higher Military Academy (Egypt), the Institute of Arab Research and Studies (Arab League), and the Institute of Diplomatic Studies at the Egyptian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and other institutions and research centers. In her interview, Prof. El Sheikh talks about influence of nonregional actors such as the United States and Russia in the Syrian crisis. Prof. El Sheikh expresses the constructive role of Russia in the resolution of this conflict and fighting international terrorist groups.

Keywords

• Syrian conflict
• US strategy in the Middle East
• Russia
• international terrorism
• Turkey
• the Gulf states