That strategy has paid off handsomely, even as Syria has burned. In the past three years, Russian influence in Syria has swelled dramatically and Moscow has acquired a new hand to play in regional politics. From having been a bit actor in Middle Eastern affairs, clinging to the tattered remains of the Soviet empire, Russia is now in possession of the most powerful client in the region’s most crucial conflict, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is being treated as the leader of a resurrected superpower.