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The breakup of the former Soviet Union - which Vladamir Putin wants us to believe is a bigger tragedy than the Holocaust - resulted in the achievement of full sovereignty by many former satellites states.
The Republic of Chechnya also sought then to declare independence. Its efforts were rebuked in then Russian president Boris Yelstin on the grounds that Chechnya is not a former satellite of the USSR, but part of Russia proper. Many in Chechnya maintained they quest for independence anyway and Chechnya rebels and the Russian military fought a brutal war between 1994 and '96. The Chechnya capital was firebombed and thousands of civilians - including thousands of Russian troops - died in the war. Putin was able to finally bring some degree of calm to Chechnya in 1999.
Currently Putin's man in Chechnya - Ramzan Kadyrov - has brought order. The Caucasus republic, though, does enjoy a degree of freedom - to tax, licenses business, and even for head covering for women in this majority Muslims region. A former main boulevard has been renamed from Victory Prospect to Putin Avenue.
But seeming peace is a facade. The Russian government's high handed tactics in the region - not just in Chechnya but also in the other four majority Muslims republic in the Caucasus - has greatly increases tension and what The Economist terms a "tinder box" in the region. Further, the Russian government's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia this past summer creates a Russian precedent for breakaway regions declaring independence.
If Russia is to avoid any future wars in its Caucasus it should adopt a police of devolution. The success of this policy can be seen in the republic of Tatarstan - the nation's most populous Muslim region. The region was integrated into Russia in the 16th century and war has never broken out (though the region did attempt unsuccessfully to seek independence during the Russian civil war of 1918-1920). Federalism is the rule when its comes to Tatarstan. Yelstin once told Tatarstan: "Take as much sovereignty as you can swallow."
Putin and his KGB henchmen consider such a policy to be a reflection of Kremlin weakness and Russian humiliation during the 1990's. Instead, such a policy was ensured peace.
Maybe Putin will learn something from Yelstin's more restrained government.
