Koehler, Jan, Alexey Gunya and Magomed Alkhazurov
2016
Insurgency-Informed Governance in the North Caucasus: Observations from Chechnya, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria
Small Wars & Insurgencies
27
3
367-391
In this article we analyse the dynamics of the insurgencies and the corresponding counter-insurgency measures in the North Caucasus over the past 25 years. By comparing three cases – Chechnya, Dagestan, and Kabardino-Balkaria – we identify similarities and differences in the way insurgencies and counter-insurgency measures influence governance in the region. Analysing different dynamics and outcomes under similar framework conditions – a federal state with a centralised government trying to govern a region with a shared history of rebellions against central rule and with similar geographic, social, and cultural features facilitating resistance and insurgencies – is a promising approach to better understanding conditions and implications of insurgency-induced governance in post-Soviet Russia.
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