Co-authors are Neal Lineback, Appalachian State University Professor Emeritus of Geography, and Geographer Mandy Lineback Gritzner. University News Director Jane Nicholson serves as technical editor. Prof. Anatoly V. Isaenko is a Cossack from North Ossetia-Alania and former history department chairman at North Ossetian State University, a Fulbright grantee at Duke University, a history professor at Appalachian State University, was a co-author of the original GITN article on the Caucasus. CHECHNYA AND THE CAUCASUS Among the world’s longest-lived hot spots is the Caucasus region, rivaling only the Balkans as a volatile kettle of violent and rebellious ethnic cultures. As ethnic Chechens, the alleged Boston Marathon bombers have focused worldwide atten- tion on Chechnya and the Caucasus region. The Caucasus mountain chain extends generally east-west between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. These high, rough and rugged mountains are more than 400 miles long and 100 miles wide (645 x 161 km.). Isolated valleys separated by high moun- tains dot the region, pro- viding refuge to the numer- ous different cultures that sprang up in the region. Three former Soviet re- publics located in the Cau- casus—Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia—received their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan is predominant- ly Muslim, while Georgia and Armenia are Christian. Other small autonomous Muslim re- publics lying along the northern flank of the Caucasus are part of greater Russia and have not been independent in recent history. They are Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Ala- nia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. Ingushetia and Chechnya have particu- larly chaffed under czarist, Soviet and now Russian dominance for centuries. Living among and around the predomi- nantly Muslim populations of these small republics are Christians, many of them Russians and Cossacks. Throughout the 20th century, the Communist party sent thousands of Russian soldiers and govern- ment officials to collectivize private lands and to maintain order over the rebellious Caucasus cultures. The processes of col- lectivization and Russification solidified many of the minority cultures, particularly when the czarists and Communists were extremely brutal toward the ethnic groups. As an example, in 1944, Josef Stalin had hundreds of Chechens, Ingush, Karachais, Balkars and Kalmyks hanged or shot and 677,988 deported to Kazakhstan, according to author Anatoly V. Isaenko. Shortly after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Chechens announced their in- dependence. In 1996, the Chechen army repelled the Russian army. The Russians regrouped and the conflict escalated into a rebel action, with terrorist activity ex- tending all the way to Moscow. In 1999, the Chechen conflict spilled into neighboring Dagestan, with rebels occupying several border towns and villages. The 2004 school bombing in the city of Beslan that occurred in North Ossetia-Ala- nia killed more than 336 Russians, half of them children. The bombing was blamed on rebels in neighboring Chechnya. The fo- cus of the attack was a huge elite Ossetian school, occupied by hundreds of children and parents on the first day of classes. This terrorist attack involved heavily armed suicide bombers. The terrorists were reportedly mostly Is- lamists (radical Muslims) from Chechnya and Ingushetia, but the fact that terrorists of other nationalities, including Arabs, were accompanying them was an ominous threat. This was an indication that interna- tional support among terrorist organiza- tions may have been involved. The bombing could have been an effort to start a regional war, a catastrophe that could widen the Chechen conflict. The ter- rorists may have hoped to ignite an ethnic war between Ossetians and Ingushetians to draw in Muslims from all across the Caucasus. Added to the downings of two Russian domestic airliners in the early 2000s allegedly by suicide bombers, the school bombing left little doubt that the Chechens were a serious threat to Russian society. Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election in 2004 and again in 2012 by promoting a strongman image, especially with regards to the Caucasus region. If Chechen terrorism had continued after 2004, Putin would have had little choice but to bring a larger domestic crackdown on the region. A regional war would have likely ensued, a fate that the Chechen rebels appeared to want. That did not occur, but rebels and radical jihadis from the region soon fanned out across the Middle East, participating in actions against governments in ev- ery regional conflict, includ- ing Lebanon, Iraq, Afghani- stan, Pakistan, the countries affected by the 2011Arab Spring and the most recent rebellion in Syria. Many from the Caucasus region also fled the local violence, seeking refuge in more peaceful parts of the world. The family of the two Boston Marathon bombers initially may have been part of that migration, but it does not explain their terrible alleged actions on Monday, April 15, 2013. And that is Geography in the News ™. May 10, 2013. #1197. Chechnya Dagestan Ingushetia North Ossetia- Alania Kalmykia Kabardino- Balkaria Karachay- Cherkessia GEORGIA RUSSIA TURKEY ARMENIA AZERBAIJAN Caspian Sea Black Sea C a u c a s u s T’bilisi Beslan Grozny Geography in the News 5/10/13 M. Shears 0 0 75 km 75 mi Danger in the Caucasus © 2013 Sources: GITN #751, Nightmare in the Caucacus Region, Nov. 5, 2004; and http://in.news. yahoo.com/live--shooting--explosions-in-boston--cop-killed-at-mit-061228669.html
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Co-authors are Neal Lineback, Appalachian State University Professor Emeritus of Geography, and Geographer Mandy Lineback Gritzner. University News Director Jane Nicholson serves as technical editor. Prof. Anatoly V. Isaenko is a Cossack from North Ossetia-Alania and former
history department chairman at North Ossetian State University, a Fulbright grantee at Duke University, a history professor at Appalachian State University, was a co-author of the original GITN article onthe Caucasus.
CHECHNYA ANDTHE CAUCASUS
Among the world’s longest-lived hot spots is the Caucasus region, rivaling only the Balkans as a volatile kettle of violent and rebellious ethnic cultures. As ethnic Chechens, the alleged Boston Marathon bombers have focused worldwide atten-tion on Chechnya and the Caucasus region.
The Caucasus mountain chain extends generally east-west between the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. These high, rough and rugged mountains are more than 400 miles long and 100 miles wide (645 x 161 km.). Isolated valleys separated by high moun-tains dot the region, pro-viding refuge to the numer-ous different cultures that sprang up in the region.
Three former Soviet re-publics located in the Cau-casus—Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia—received their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan is predominant-ly Muslim, while Georgia and Armenia are Christian.
Other small autonomous Muslim re-publics lying along the northern fl ank of the Caucasus are part of greater Russia and have not been independent in recent history. They are Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Ala-nia, Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan. Ingushetia and Chechnya have particu-larly chaffed under czarist, Soviet and now Russian dominance for centuries.
Living among and around the predomi-nantly Muslim populations of these small republics are Christians, many of them Russians and Cossacks. Throughout the 20th century, the Communist party sent thousands of Russian soldiers and govern-ment offi cials to collectivize private lands
and to maintain order over the rebellious Caucasus cultures. The processes of col-lectivization and Russifi cation solidifi ed many of the minority cultures, particularly when the czarists and Communists were extremely brutal toward the ethnic groups. As an example, in 1944, Josef Stalin had hundreds of Chechens, Ingush, Karachais, Balkars and Kalmyks hanged or shot and 677,988 deported to Kazakhstan, according to author Anatoly V. Isaenko.
Shortly after the Soviet Union broke up in 1991, Chechens announced their in-dependence. In 1996, the Chechen army repelled the Russian army. The Russians regrouped and the confl ict escalated into a rebel action, with terrorist activity ex-tending all the way to Moscow. In 1999, the Chechen confl ict spilled into neighboring Dagestan, with rebels occupying several border towns and villages.
The 2004 school bombing in the city of Beslan that occurred in North Ossetia-Ala-nia killed more than 336 Russians, half of them children. The bombing was blamed on rebels in neighboring Chechnya. The fo-cus of the attack was a huge elite Ossetian school, occupied by hundreds of children and parents on the fi rst day of classes. This terrorist attack involved heavily armed suicide bombers.
The terrorists were reportedly mostly Is-lamists (radical Muslims) from Chechnya and Ingushetia, but the fact that terrorists of other nationalities, including Arabs, were accompanying them was an ominous threat. This was an indication that interna-tional support among terrorist organiza-
tions may have been involved.The bombing could have been an effort
to start a regional war, a catastrophe that could widen the Chechen confl ict. The ter-rorists may have hoped to ignite an ethnic war between Ossetians and Ingushetians to draw in Muslims from all across the Caucasus. Added to the downings of two Russian domestic airliners in the early 2000s allegedly by suicide bombers, the school bombing left little doubt that the Chechens were a serious threat to Russian society.
Russian President Vladimir Putin won re-election in 2004 and again in 2012 by promoting a strongman image, especially with regards to the Caucasus region. If Chechen terrorism had continued after 2004, Putin would have had little choice but to bring a larger domestic crackdown on the region. A regional war would have
likely ensued, a fate that the Chechen rebels appeared to want. That did not occur, but rebels and radical jihadis from the region soon fanned out across the Middle East, participating in actions against governments in ev-ery regional confl ict, includ-ing Lebanon, Iraq, Afghani-stan, Pakistan, the countries affected by the 2011Arab Spring and the most recent rebellion in Syria.
Many from the Caucasus region also fl ed the local violence, seeking refuge in more peaceful parts of the world. The family of the two Boston Marathon bombers initially may have been part
of that migration, but it does not explain their terrible alleged actions on Monday, April 15, 2013.
And that is Geography in the News™. May 10, 2013. #1197.
Chechnya
Dagestan
IngushetiaNorth
Ossetia-Alania
Kalmykia
Kabardino-Balkaria
Karachay- Cherkessia
GEORGIA
RUSSIA
TURKEYARMENIA AZERBAIJAN
CaspianSea
BlackSea
C a u c a s u s
T’bilisi
Beslan
Grozny
Geography in the News 5/10/13 M. Shears
0
0
75 km
75 mi
Danger in the Caucasus© 2013
Sources: GITN #751, Nightmare in the Caucacus Region, Nov. 5, 2004; and http://in.news.yahoo.com/live--shooting--explosions-in-boston--cop-killed-at-mit-061228669.html
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