The Chechen war is, in large part, a Russian response to Western incursions into the former Soviet republics in the Caucuasus. And remember that, for years, Western governments have subsidized the Russian campaign with loans and loan guarantees and all sorts of other goodies and special privileges. Enlargement will humiliate Moscow and create a 'Weimar Russia,' vulnerable to Russian nationalists hostile to the west who believe that the country's interests are being sacrificed by weak leadership. As long as we leave the Russian bear in his den, he is harmless, because he is almost mortally wounded. It is a lot to lose, and the revanchist dream is a powerful one.
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