[Related: A Brief History of Syria’s Civil War @ Vox: Text, Video]
Russia started airstrikes in Syria on September 30th, with the stated purpose of degrading ISIS (video-ISIS background). These airstrikes are in addition to the airstrikes that the US has been conducting for over a year. And they substantially exceed the number of US strikes — Russia is launching as many strikes in a day as the US does in a month. It is planning to build a new, unified military base.
Although Russia has conducted strikes against ISIS positions and locations, it has also initiated a substanti