Ein Artikel in der eher gemäßgten „Russia in Global Affairs“ betont, dass das international System vor einem grundlegenden Wandel stehe, der Westen aber alles unternehme, dies zu verhindern: „[I]f Russia holds out until 2020 and all attempts by its enemies to bring it to economic collapse, chaos, and disintegration fail, then we can be certain that the era of Western dominance has ended. Thus, international relations will officially enter a new era.” Au seiner gänzlich anderen Warte nähern sich die beiden rennomierten US-Neokonservativen Frederick und Kimberly Kagan dem Thema. In ihrem Beitrag „Putin Ushers in a New Era of Geopolitics” betonten sie die Tragweite der jüngsten russischen Luftschläge in Syrien und die Notwendigkeit, Moskau offensiv entgegenzutreten: „The deployment of Russian military forces to Syria is a major geostrategic inflection. Its significance goes far beyond the situation in Syria. It may well herald, in fact, a new era in global geopolitics and security. [I]t may represent the opening of a new Russian flank against NATO and against America’s ability to operate in the region. If so, it will be much easier to resist or deflect this Russian adventure now, at its beginning and when it is very limited, than to reverse it some years hence after it has taken firm root.” (jw)