[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