Carnegie Moscow Center
The failure of the international community to recognize the Caucasus and Central Asia as a region with complex internal dynamics complicates efforts to respond to global challenges ranging from energy security and arms proliferation to humanitarian crises.
The South Caucasus, a region with a long history of conflict and failed foreign intervention, would benefit from a paradigm shift in the policies of external actors.
Lasting security in Russia can only be established when the problems of the North Caucasus are resolved. Society itself must initiate serious discussion on the North Caucasus and the ethnic tensions plaguing Russia, formulate proposals, and present demands to the authorities.
Amid an atmosphere of mistrust and a fragile ceasefire, the conflict around Nagorno-Karabakh could quickly become violent. The international community would be better served to spend extra resources now on preventative diplomacy to prevent tensions from flaring.
In post-Soviet countries, the leaders of national churches are increasingly exercising considerable influence on their populations and pursuing their own social and political agendas.
Jihadists in the North Caucasus, spurred by widespread poverty, mass unemployment, and rampant corruption, are likely behind the recent suicide bombing at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport.
The North Caucasus has a long history of conflict with the Russian state and it will take years, if not decades, for the region to become stable and economically viable enough to undermine radicalization among its marginalized inhabitants.
The Russian government must do more to close the security loopholes that enabled the recent bombing of Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport.
If the Abkhaz government continues to avoid engagement with the international community, it runs the risk of letting Russia determine Abkhazia's future.
To solve the problems of the North Caucasus, Moscow needs to stop the trend toward de-modernization and de-industrialization of the region, as well as to help raise local elites and support the closer integration with the rest of the Russian Federation.