Staunton, March 30 – A serious consequence of a crisis like the ongoing one in Ukraine is that it absorbs so much media space that little or none is left for other events and developments, creating a situation that may benefit some and harm others, even when no overt falsification of the news is involved. […]
Staunton, March 26 — As the Circassian issue became prominent in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics, Russian commentators focused on and denounced Circassian desires to re-create a single Circassia in the North Caucasus, a step that would require the wholesale redrawing of Soviet-imposed borders there. But now it appears that Ankara’s efforts to spread […]
Staunton, March 20 – When Ramzan Kadyrov promised that Chechnya would help rebuild the economy of Crimea after its absorption into the Russian Federation this week, most observers concluded that he was just being his usual flamboyant self. But the truth is more complicated and potentially more disturbing. As journalist Andrey Pertsev points out on […]
Speaking at a meeting with participants of the public council to prepare for the Sochi Olympics earlier in the week, President Vladimir Putin called “the Circassian factor” an “atavism of the theory of deterrence,” and an “instrument of the cold war.” “Back during the ‘cold war,’ the ‘deterrence theory’ was born, aimed at deterring the […]
The Sochi Winter Olympics is underway. This week, The Interpreter’s managing editor James Miller is joined by Boston College Professor Dr. Matt Sienkiewicz and a Northeastern University professor Max Abrahms, a terrorism expert, to discuss the state of security at the Olympics. Will there be a terrorist attack? Did Russian security agencies adequately prepare for the threat? Will holding the Olympics […]
The Sochi Winter Olympics start in just two days. This week, The Interpreter’s managing editor James Miller speaks to Boston College Professor Dr. Matt Sienkiewicz about whether Russia is ready for the Olympics, what to look out for during the Olympics, and whether or not the games will be safe from terrorism. Also see today’s liveblog of the run-up to the […]
In the aftermath of terrorist attacks and during times of societal turmoil, it is quite common to see the introduction of security or emergency measures which give security services increased powers. Sometimes these powers are time-constrained and meant as a temporary measure to—at least publicly—reduce the constraints on the security services ability to counter terrorism, […]
This is a translation of an article published in Izvestia, a pro-Kremlin publication, praising Ariel Sharon and drawing parallel’s between what happened in Gaza and what could happen in the Caucasus if Russia should withdraw. — Ed. The passing of Ariel Sharon came as an inevitable tragic outcome after eight years in which he was […]
Readers might get the idea that the number of terrorist attacks in Russia is increasing because of a series of well-publicized suicide bombings in the central Russian city of Volgograd in December and earlier in the fall. With the Sochi Olympics coming up in February, a view of the map of terrorist bombings in the Russian Caucasus yields a sense […]
The leader of the Republic of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, said in an interview with Izvestia that at its meeting the anti-terrorist commission made a number of decisions in connection with the terrorist attacks in Volgograd. “We’ve just had a meeting of the Anti-Terrorist Commission of the Republic of Dagestan, mourned the victims, and expressed condolences […]
