Prague Watchdog: The Caucasus "Czar" (Weekly Review)
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posted by eagle on November, 2009 as Imperialism
The Caucasus "Czar" (weekly review)
By Vadim Borshchev, special to Prague Watchdog
Dmitry Medvedev's plan, announced last week in his address to the Federal Assembly, of creating a special “boss” for the North Caucasus, seems an absolutely logical step. During the past few months Medvedev has repeatedly criticized the present state of affairs in the region, pointing to the absence of any serious progress there. So harsh were his remarks on the situation that many experts decided they were really an attempt to undermine the authority of Vladimir Putin – author of the federal centre’s current law enforcement policy in the North Caucasus. These assumptions were not confirmed, as the president confined himself to criticism, without offering any new approaches that could replace the old failed policies of the Kremlin. Obviously, the spring and summer of this year have been unprecedented in terms of ... |
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Window On Eurasia: Medvedev Treats The North Caucasus As A Place Apart From The Rest of Russia,
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, November 18 – In his message to the Russian parliament, President Dmitry Medvedev continued “a dangerous trend” by treating the North Caucasus “not as a constituent part of the Russian state and Russian society but rather as a imperial borderland which bothers the center with its problems,” according to a leading Moscow specialist on the region.
In a commentary published in “Gazeta” yesterday, Sergey Markedonov, one of Russia’s most thoughtful commentators on the North Caucasus, points out that both Medvedev’s rhetoric and his proposed solutions to what the president called “the most serious domestic problem” in Russia underscore this distinction (gazeta.ru/comments/2009/11/17_x_3287833.shtml).
That approach, the Moscow specialist continues, in part reflects the president’s lack of a “systematic strategy and understanding of the challenges standing before Russia” in this region, a ...
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NatPress: Moscow Excises “Separatist” Articles From Constitutions Of Circassian Republics
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Moscow Excises “Separatist” Articles from Constitutions of Circassian Republics
19.11.2009
Fatima TlisovaThe parliament of the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria has ratified changes in the republican constitution at the request of the Russian Prosecutor-General. Final agreement was reached on November 10 after prolonged debates followed by two unsuccessful attempts to vote on the issue (Gazeta Yuga, November 12).The Prosecutor-General asked for the removal of two articles from the constitution of Kabardino-Balkaria. Both of them refer to the status of Kabardino-Balkaria as a sovereign republic in the Russian Federation. Article 4 states that: “The highest authority and the source of the power in Kabardino-Balkaria is the multi-ethnic people of Kabardino-Balkaria.” Article 9 goes on to state that: “The land, natural resources, rivers, forests, flora and fauna of the Republic are the heritage and the foundation of life and work of the people of Kabardino-Balkaria.”The prosecutorial request had been based on a Russian federal Constitutional Court’s decision stating that the only source of power ...>> full
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Window On Eurasia: Putin Says Decision On ‘Reunification’ Of Georgia ‘Already Decided’
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
Paul Goble
Vienna, November 17 – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has often described the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest tragedy” of the 20th century, has now said that the “reunification” of Georgia has “already been decided,” a suggestion some of his listeners believe was a call for restoring Moscow’s control over Georgia and even the former USSR as a whole.
In an intriguing commentary published in yesterday’s “Gazeta,” Bozhena Rynska describes both the celebration of the 80th birthday of longtime Soviet and Russian official Yevgeny Primakov and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s two very different toasts on that occasion (www.gazeta.ru/column/rynska/3287611.shtml).
The celebration took place at the Center of International Trade. Among those in attendance were Vice Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov, KPRF leader Gennady Zyuganov, Governor Valentina Matviyenko, Federation Council First Vice Speaker Aleksandr Torshin “and other ...
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Jamestown Foundation: North Caucasus’ Ethnic Russian Population Shrinks As Indigenous Populations Grow
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posted by eagle on as Imperialism
North Caucasus’ Ethnic Russian Population Shrinks as Indigenous Populations GrowPublication: Eurasia Daily Monitor November 13, 2009 On November 3, Dagestani President Mukhu Aliev held a special meeting of the commission dedicated to the problems of ethnic Russians living in the republic. Despite the optimistic tone of the officials, it appears that ethnic Russians are still leaving Dagestan, although in fewer numbers than immediately after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. According to President Aliev, Russians comprised 20 percent of Dagestan’s population, and were the second largest ethnic group in this ethnically diverse republic in 1959. However, by 1989, the ethnic Russian population had decreased to 9 percent of the republic’s total and in the following years to less than 5 percent. Today, ethnic Russians rank sixth among numerous ethnicities of Dagestan; the Avars, Dargins, Kumyks, Lezgins and Laks each number more than the Russians. In the period between two ... >> full
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