Russia’s involvement in the Syrian civil war dramatically changed the balance of power. Before the intervention, government forces were quickly losing ground to numerous rebel groups. Moscow’s motives to send troops to Syria were primarily political as the country was at loggerheads with the West over its involvement in Ukraine. After several years of fighting, Assad’s forces have achieved a military victory with the backing of their Russian and Iranian allies. This provides a once in a lifetime opportunity for the Russian energy sector. Gazprom is one of the companies that has been positioning itself to reinvigorate the Syrian energy industry. The relative instability of the country would require military protection for normal companies. Gazprom, however, could soon become the world’s first militarized resource company. Syria’s strategic value Syria’s energy reserves are negligible to make a serious impact on the global energy market. The Arab country has oil reserves […]