No change in the Russian Caucasus. The Winter Olympics amid a local war. OSW Study 47/2014
Journal: Archive of European Integration (AEI) (University of Pittsburgh)
Year: 2014

The North Caucasus has been the most unstable region of the Russian Federation since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Considering the scale of violence, the conflict in the region should be regarded as a local civil war between the Salafi Islamic armed underground and the secular authorities of the North Caucasus republics, supported by the security services. The Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has made himself de facto independent from Moscow, holds a particularly strong position in the reg