Russian military
Russia's powerful, resourceful military has sent Washington running for the hills

A permanent peace is still a long way off for Syria — please, don't even mention Geneva, it will give us digestion issues — but there is a silver lining to this genocidal, western-manufactured war: Russia has effectively ended Washington's global hegemony.

The Syrians, Russians and Iranians have all paid a high price, but the message is clear: Washington's game of "regime change" dominoes — which has gone on for decades, but became particularly brutal and unapologetic after 9/11 — is over.

But what halted America's unilateral military "adventures"? A highly-capable, extremely efficient and modernized Russian military.

During his address to Russian parliament on Wednesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia's military had successfully "solved the geopolitical task" in Syria:
The collapse of the Syrian state has been prevented, the civil war virtually has been stopped, as well as the attempts to change the legal government [in Syria], directed from abroad," Shoigu said in the statement. [The Russian military] solved the geopolitical tasks, caused substantial damage to the international terrorist organizations in Syria, disrupted their financial support and the system of their recourses supply.
This is a round-about way of saying that the Russian military just "solved" the problem of U.S. geopolitical meddling.

If you were foolish enough to believe the western press, Syria was supposed to be Putin's "last stand" — a final, desperate attempt to whip up patriotism at home as Russia's "failing" economy crumbled. Here's CNN, just a few days after Russia began its military operations in Syria in September 2015:

CNN US assessment Russia in Syria propaganda
Wrong. Again.
An oldie but a goodie. We love browsing through the classics.

A lot has been written about Russia's military successes in Syria, and how they have been used to showcase and advertise Moscow's military capabilities. Strategic Culture Foundation recently published extremely valuable, in-depth analysis of the military hardware that Russia has showcased and tested in Syria. We strongly encourage you to read it. The article concludes with a simple but important observation:
The conflict in Syria gives Russia leeway to test its new weapons and equipment in real-world conditions. With valuable lessons learnt, the military is making rapid progress in bringing into service assets it did not have before. The experience gained in Syria has greatly boosted Russia's military capabilities.
But why stop there? Yes, more nations than ever before will probably line up to purchase Russian weaponry. But that's not the most important takeaway from Syria.

As RI's military expert Federico Pieraccini wrote last year:
Moscow has demonstrated with unequivocal force that the modernization of its armed forces, initiated by Putin 15 years ago, is rapidly closing the gap with western powers. The real breakthrough Russia displayed in Syria is how an important military complex can work effectively thanks to the absence of wide-scale corruption. Without an enormous US-style military-industrial complex to feed, Moscow can focus on and prioritize projects that are needed immediately, making decisions on what processes are better to be implemented within a short space of time.

What most impresses observers is the efficiency of Russian actions in Syria. Moscow is clearly demonstrating a military doctrine that is coherent and consistent in developing all aspects of modern warfare in an equal and proportional way.
Pieraccini perfectly explains why Syria really is a military "miracle". Russia's military has undergone an incredible transformation. Its victories in Syria would not have been possible ten years ago. But times change.

In other words: Moscow has exposed Washington's weakness. Military resourcefulness, coupled with innovative, modern technology used in a proportional way.... okay, let's just make it simple: RUSSIA.