Where Is Chechnya Going?
By Boris Kagarlitsky The assassination of Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov has created a power vacuum in the republic. The Kremlin has no Kadyrov replacement waiting in the wings. The late Chechen leader fought using his own methods: Where the army proved incapable of neutralizing the rebels by force, Kadyrov was able to win many of them over by persuasion. He was feared, but also respected after a fashion. Now, just one wrong step by the federal center will be enough to send the “reformed” rebels running for the hills. The Kremlin has sufficient resources to prod things in the direction it desires, the only problem is that it doesn’t have a clear idea what it wants. The Russian leadership seems to be taking a timeout until August when a new election will take place in Chechnya. They don’t know whom to appoint as next president and, more importantly, what the role of that person should be play. If the political will existed, it would be possible to resolve the crisis fairly simply. Now
