Carnegie Moscow Center
After the Boston bombings it should be clearer than ever before that the United States needs fulsome security partnerships with other countries.
The Boston bombing has heightened tensions in Europe and has had repercussions for Russia, especially in light of the need to provide security at the Sochi Olympics.
The North Caucasus, home of a low-level Islamist insurgency, is easily Europe’s worst conflict zone. Moscow has lost authority over the territory—but no one else has gained it.
Islam may not have been the primary motivation behind the Tsarnaev brothers’ bombing in Boston; what they wanted was to make headlines.
Chechnya is outwardly much more quiet than in previous years, but a low-level Islamist insurgency continues in and around the region that takes dozens of lives each year.
There is little Russia could have done to help the United States prevent the Boston bombings, but Washington and Moscow should restart and enhance international antiterrorist cooperation.
The Russian government’s ability to resolve a host of problems in its preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games will be a decisive factor in shaping its reputation at home and abroad.
For the foreseeable future, the Commonwealth of Independent States should remain Russia’s significant foreign policy priority. Its policies toward individual CIS countries will be shaped by Russian leaders’ practical interests and needs, and also by the changing environment.
Despite the support by some political parties in Europe, human rights organizations have been unable to prevent high-profile events taking place in autocratic countries.
The presence of Islam in Russian political life is growing to the extent that its role is now even more pronounced than it was in the 1990s.