Allahs Mountains: Politics And War In The Russian Caucasus; Author: Smith, Sebastian; Hardback; Book

Author: Smith, Sebastian
Hardback; Book
256 pages
Published: June 1998
I.B. Tauris & Co Ltd
ISBN: 1860642152
This item non-returnable. Order may not be canceled.

This book explores first-hand the turmoil of the North Caucasus. Crisscrossed by billion-dollar oil pipelines and facing Iran and Turkey, this predominantly Muslim region is perhaps the most strategically important in the huge Russian Federation. It is also the most unstable. Ferocious resistance meant that Russia took almost three centuries to conquer it and the declaration of independence by Chechnya, with the vicious war that ensued in 1994, laid bare enduring tensions between the indigenous peoples and Moscow. Beyond Chechnya, many other ethnic groups, including the Dagestanis, Adyegei and Balkars, struggle to preserve their Identities, though none has taken up arms thus far. The stakes are high: for the North Caucasians, ethnic pride and even survival as distinct people; forThis text explores the turmoil of the North Caucasus. Perhaps the most strategic region in the Russian Federation, it is also the most unstable. Here, the background to the conflict and factors which may affect its outcome are examined.