Latest Articles about Domestic/Social
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Dagestani Anti-Insurgency Vigilante Group Posts Internet Video
As of July 11, 20 people had already been killed or wounded in insurgency-related violence in Dagestan since the beginning of the month. The total number of casualties in the whole of the North Caucasus in the same period was 26 (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru/articles/209480/). Out of the... MORE
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Georgia’s Parliamentary Elections: Four Underestimated Challenges and Risks (Part One)
The upcoming parliamentary elections pose a unique set of challenges to Georgia’s evolving democracy, the country’s stability and potentially to Georgian statehood itself. The challenges include: vote purchase leading to full or partial state capture, Russian military pressure timed to the voting, danger of post-election... MORE
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Kazakh Theater Director Bolat Atabayev Released as Opposition Leaders Await Trial
The trials over the December 2011 violence in Zhanaozen are approaching their most dramatic phase. Several political opposition leaders are facing charges ranging from inciting public discord to calling for the violent overthrow of the government and establishing an organized criminal group. In January, Kazakhstan’s... MORE
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Islam in Chechnya Becomes Kremlin Propaganda Tool to Rebuild Image in Muslim World
As the Chechen Republic has been gradually rebuilt following the destruction of two wars, the Islamization of the region has become increasingly evident. While the federal center is not involved in Islamizing Chechnya, it has taken no steps to prevent it. The primary reason for... MORE
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Government Unaccountability Blamed for Poor Response to Krasnodar Floods
On July 6, floods swept through the western parts of Krasnodar region on Russia’s Black Sea coast, killing at least 160 people and leaving tens of thousands more without homes. Most of those killed were in the town of Krymsk, which has a population of... MORE
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Ending of Draft in North Caucasus Threatens Moscow’s Control of Russian Federation
The Kremlin’s decision to stop drafting young non-Russian men from the republics of the North Caucasus threatens Moscow’s control both of that region and of the Russian Federation as a whole (see EDM June 27; RIA Novosti, June 25). This move simultaneously highlights and exacerbates... MORE
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Ingushetia’s Growing Instability Sign of Yevkurov’s Waning Political Clout
In June 2012, Ingushetia was the third deadliest republic in the North Caucasus, behind only Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria. Six people died in attacks in the republic and 17 were injured, while 11 were killed and 12 wounded in Kabardino-Balkaria, and 28 were killed and ten... MORE
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A Post-Putin Interregnum Takes Shape in the Minds of Putin’s Elite
July has brought a drought to the Russian political climate; even the rise in communal tariffs has barely registered as the urban dwellers migrate en masse to their dachas. The lull gives both the stakeholders in Putin’s regime and the risk-takers in the opposition camp... MORE
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Confucius Institutes and the Question of China’s Soft Power Diplomacy
After a period of relative calm, Beijing’s promotion of the ever expanding number of overseas Confucius Institutes (CIs) since 2004 came to the attention of the international community once again. As stated in the 2011 Annual Report issued by the Confucian Institute headquarters, there are... MORE
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Toward A Second Generation of Ethnic Policies?
The recent self-immolations in Lhasa remind us that China has its fair share of ethnic problems. Chinese government officials continue to blame “outside forces” for inciting ethnic divisions, insisting that “sixty years of experiences have proved that China's ethnic policies are correct and effective” [1].... MORE