Syrian rebels have dealt a blow to Vladimir Putin’s naval ambitions

FOR 50 YEARS Russia’s foothold in the Mediterranean has been bound up with the Assad dynasty in Syria. It was in 1971 that Hafez al-Assad—father of Bashar, Syria’s dictator until last week—became president of the country. And it was the same year that the Soviet Union signed a deal with Syria to lease a port at Tartus on Syria’s coast. That enduring Russian military presence now hangs by a thread, following the swift collapse of the Assad regime. The Kremlin appears to have avoided a panicked and disorderly departure, but its influence on NATO’s southern flank is likely to wane.