Putin and the Military: How Long Will the Honeymoon Last?
Russian President Vladimir Putin aggressively wooed the man in uniform during his victorious campaign for the Kremlin, from the time of his appointment as prime minister in August 1999 until…
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North Caucasus
87 posts
Southern Russia: The Heartland or Russia’s Soft Underbelly?
Southern Russia is undoubtedly of strategic importance. Its figures are not too impressive: with about 13% of Russia's total population, the region produces 15.5% of the country's agriculture and just…
Russia’s Nationalist Consolidation: Love it or Leave it?
More than sixty years ago, Russia experienced a radical ideological transition that in some respects strikingly resembles the processes taking place today. In the late twenties, Communist ideology in Russia…
Human Rights Violations in Chechnya: Implications for Western Assistance to Russia
Complaints of human rights violations by Russian authorities in Chechnya are now rampant. In early March 2000, Human Rights Watch representative Peter Bouckaert testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee…
Foreign Policy Under Putin: Pro-Western Pragmatism Might Be a Greater Challenge to the West
As Russia prepares for early presidential elections, the foreign policy strategy of the most likely winner–acting President Vladimir Putin–is the subject of much speculation. Will he be pro- or anti-Western?…
Explaining the International Community’s Response to the War in Chechnya
In between his night at the opera with Tony Blair and his tea with Queen Elizabeth, Vladimir Putin refused to see Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,…
Russian National Security Policy in 2000
Although signing a decree granting the new National Security Concept the status of law in January 2000 was one of acting president Vladimir V. Putin's first official decisions in the…
What is Driving Russia’s New Strategic Concept?
A good deal of confusion has arisen in the West about Russia's latest "Concept of National Security," which formally took effect on January 10 and was published in the weekly…
Reflections on Putin’s Rise to Power
Suddenly, something in the mysterious and unpredictable realm of Russia looks not merely predictable but destined to happen. It is almost embarrassing to analysts, who are used to the bubbling…
Will Russia Go for a Military Victory in Chechnya?
Six full weeks after the December 1999 parliamentary elections, Russian troops managed to raise their flags over the familiar ruins of the presidential palace in Grozny. Victory has been proclaimed…