LATENT CONFLICTS IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS: AN ETHNO-SOCIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS

Introduction

The current socio-political situation in Russia and its development trends are the object of close attention of both federal and regional authorities. Politicized ethnicity, which is taking on ever more aggressive forms, threatens the Russian community with ethnoseparatism, secession, interethnic conflicts, and ethnopolitical crises.

In a latent state of varying degrees, interethnic tension exists in all the North Caucasian regions. Potentially problematic centers of interethnic relations in the Caucasus are:

  • in the Krasnodar Territory:

§ in the Black Sea regions, in a number of villages – between the Russian and Armenian population;

§ in the areas of settlement of the Kurdish and Turkish-Meskhetian population – relations with the local old-timer population, mainly Russian;

  • in the Stavropol Territory:

§ between Russians and Nogays, on the one hand, and Dagestanis, on the other (mainly Dargins) in the eastern regions of the region;

§ between the Armenian and Russian (Cossack) population;

§ between the old-timer population, on the one hand (mainly Russian), and the North Caucasian communities, on the other;

§ between Circassians, Abazins, on the one hand, and Karachays, on the other;

§ between the Russian (Cossack) population in a number of villages (Storozhevaya, Zelenchukskaya, Ispravnaya) and Karachays;

  • in the CBD:

§ between Balkars and Kabardians in the whole republic;

  • in RSO-A:

§ between Ossetians and Ingush in the Prigorodny District;

§ between Russians, Ossetians, Armenians, on the one hand, and Kumyks, on the other, in the Mozdok region;

  • in Dagestan:

§ between Kumykami and Avars in foothill areas (from Khasavyurta to Kizilyurtu and Makhachkale);

§ between Chechens and Avars in the former Aukhovsky district (Leninaul, Kaliniaul);

§ between Kumyks and Laks in the area of ​​resettlement of Laks from Novolaksky district;

§ between the Russian (Cossack) population and refugees from other regions (in Derbent and regions of the republic);

  • in Abkhazia:

§ the problem of integration of the Megrelian (Georgian) population of the Gali region;

  • in Georgia:

§ the problem of potential autonomy for Armenians in Javakheti;

§ the problem of the potential autonomy of Azerbaijanis in Borchalo (mainly Marneuli);

§ between Georgians and Kists (Chechens) in the Akhmeta region;

  • in Azerbaijan:

§ between Lezgins and Azerbaijanis in Kusar and neighboring regions.

The situation in the political, social and cultural spheres that has developed on the territory of the North Caucasus Federal District of the Russian Federation requires urgent decisions. With all acuteness, there is a lack of development of the theoretical aspect of this subject and practical recommendations for the implementation of the ethno-social policy of the state in the context of growing national radicalism on the part of opponents of the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation. At the same time, ethnicity acquires political functions, and the ethnic group turns into a subject of politics. The latter poses a danger to the territorial and social integrity of the state. This is especially acute when extremism spreads deep into the religious component of society’s life.

The problem of national radicalism in the aspect of political science and social anthropology in the North Caucasus is reflected in the works of domestic and foreign authors, the results of these studies are important for understanding the ongoing processes. A number of researchers interpret the phenomenon of national radicalism as social, associated with the hypertrophy of ethnicity, as chauvinization of national history and culture. Others give it a purely political meaning and link its genesis and development with the process of formation of statehood in different historical conditions.

Modern ethnosociology is dominated by three approaches that do not allow other than officially accepted interpretations of ethnogenesis and ethnic conflicts. One of them is ethnographic, which explains the conflict of interests of ethnic groups by the difference in cultural traditions, mores, lifestyle, and beliefs. The second is political science, explaining interethnic conflicts by the difference in the political positions of the national elite or the bourgeoisie, the ideological “sabotage” of opposition political formations or nationalist groups, separatist movements. The third is the conflictological approach, which considers interethnic clashes as a conflict of interests, due to private interests of a political or cultural nature, which can be resolved by finding compromises.

At the present stage, when studying the causes of interethnic conflicts, one can proceed from the concept of the conflict of civilizations, which has been emphasized in the last two decades by the American social philosopher and political scientist Samuel Huntington. According to this concept, all forms of interethnic conflicts, including religious ones, are an expression of a single contradiction – a civilizational one. All kinds of forms (ethnic, social, political) in this sense are not true sources, but only a form of manifestation. The approach to the study of the source of the conflict from the position of the conflict of civilizations provides an opportunity to correctly measure the expectations of the conflicting parties, which can form the basis of a compromise.

The concept of the civilizational approach leads to the conclusion that the study of the causes of interethnic conflicts in Russia cannot be carried out relying only on Western (primarily American) experience in conflict studies. Unlike the USA, Canada, Australia, the majority of ethnic formations in Russia are not emigrant ethnic communities, but are autonomous state associations in historical territories. Therefore, it is unreasonable to expect from them the identity of ethnic consciousness like the emigrant “guest” mentality of the migrant communities of the USA and Canada, which is based on a purely economic interest and, for the most part, mass cultural communication devoid of ethical foundations.

National problems in Russia are fundamentally different from national problems in the United States. There is only a national problem, as a civil-economic one, but there is no ethnic problem at the state level (all emigrants). At the national level, the “pseudo-ethnic” problem manifests itself only as a racial one, so the division of labor along ethnic lines is not considered discrimination, but only the result of professional competition.

In Russia, large ethnic groups are historically united in the state, therefore they do not accept the division of labor at the federal level, and in their own country, in this state, they build a micromodel according to the federal type. Theoretically, this implies the competitiveness (“self-sufficiency”) of the state within the federation. If this does not happen, and the state within the federation is subsidized, then it involuntarily recognizes its colonial status (material dependence on the mother country). National states in Russia are trying to level this problem and position their historically established state not as an economically autonomous union of citizens, but as an ethnic community, replacing economic problems with ethno-cultural ones. Such a situation will constantly give rise to interethnic contradictions, according to a simple principle: “who feeds whom?”.

The communal distributive relations that prevailed in the USSR, theological in form and ethical (moral) in content, corresponded to the mentality of peoples whose civilizational development ended long before the emergence of elements of capitalism in the Russian Empire and was (and is) more an attribute of feudal relations than market ones. Therefore, the desire of the Russian state today to establish market relations in the country breaks not only the way of life, the principles of interpersonal communication and self-realization in the reference groups, including because of the destruction of themselves (the value structure of the family, the hierarchy of intergenerational relations, the principles of ethical (not legal) form of regulation community relations), but at the same time exerts unreasonable pressure on the genetics of the individual.

  • external, developing in a number of cases into a state-wide conflict, there is a contradiction not between small ethnic groups and Russians as a state-forming ethnic group, but between small ethnic groups and the federal (sometimes national) state power as the embodiment of the oligarchic policy of intensive market development, involving small ethnic groups in capitalist civilization;
  • the internal contradiction is generated by the elements of the market itself, which create a conflict of interest between groups within ethnic groups: these are the classic contradictions of the formation of capitalism, namely between the city and the crumbling village, communal agriculture and farming, owners of the means of production and wage workers, between part of the population with a theological mentality and another part with an individualized consciousness of “rentier”, young and old generations due to the destruction of traditions.

The current state of research on the problem

The study of the origins of contradictions and the practice of regulating interethnic relations is relevant for science, especially at the level of the sociology of ethnogenesis. Sociologists must answer the interrelationship of politics, economics and ethno-social processes, involving economists, political scientists and ethnographers as advisers within their competence.

The historical forms of ethno-religious extremism in the North Caucasus were considered in the pre-revolutionary works of Russian and Russian authors. N.F. Dubrovin, N.Ya. Danilevsky, I.N. Zakharyin, A.I. Runovsky, R.A. Fadeev and others, who saw the Caucasian War as a clash of civilization (the Russian Empire of the 19th century) and barbarism (mountain peoples) and a battle between Christianity and Islam. German historians and politicians generally supported the assessments of Russian authors. French and British scientists and politicians, on the contrary, considered the participants in the resistance in the Caucasus to be their geopolitical allies and sought to use them to tear away its outlying territories from the Russian Empire. Soviet historians, depending on the political and ideological conjuncture, considered the Caucasian War and the Imamate of 1877. either as numerous manifestations of violence on social, national or religious grounds, or as a national liberation movement (M.N. Pokrovsky, N.N. Pokrovsky, PM Magomedov). A certain part of Soviet researchers defended the point of view according to which the uprisings of the highlanders in the Caucasus were inspired from abroad (Kh.G. Adzhemyan, Sh.V. Tsagareishvili, etc.). was directed exclusively against Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.). considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. national or religious grounds, or as a national liberation movement (M.N. Pokrovsky, N.N. Pokrovsky, PM Magomedov). A certain part of Soviet researchers defended the point of view according to which the uprisings of the highlanders in the Caucasus were inspired from abroad (Kh.G. Adzhemyan, Sh.V. Tsagareishvili, etc.). was directed exclusively against Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.). considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. national or religious grounds, or as a national liberation movement (M.N. Pokrovsky, N.N. Pokrovsky, PM Magomedov). A certain part of Soviet researchers defended the point of view according to which the uprisings of the highlanders in the Caucasus were inspired from abroad (Kh.G. Adzhemyan, Sh.V. Tsagareishvili, etc.). was directed exclusively against Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.). considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. A certain part of Soviet researchers defended the point of view according to which the uprisings of the highlanders in the Caucasus were inspired from abroad (Kh.G. Adzhemyan, Sh.V. Tsagareishvili, etc.). was directed exclusively against Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.). considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. A certain part of Soviet researchers defended the point of view according to which the uprisings of the highlanders in the Caucasus were inspired from abroad (Kh.G. Adzhemyan, Sh.V. Tsagareishvili, etc.). was directed exclusively against Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.). considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. that the expansionism of the highlanders, who were at the stage of military democracy, was directed exclusively against the Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.) Military-political and administrative-legal methods of regulating ethno-religious extremism in North Caucasus in the XIX-XX centuries. considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others. that the expansionism of the highlanders, who were at the stage of military democracy, was directed exclusively against the Russian statehood (M.M. Bliev, V.V. Degoev, V.B. Vinogradov, etc.) Military-political and administrative-legal methods of regulating ethno-religious extremism in North Caucasus in the XIX-XX centuries. considered in the works of N.F. Bugai, AM Gonova, G.V. Marchenko, V.V. Popova, V.P. Plyaskin and others.

An extensive scientific literature is devoted to modern ethno-religious extremism. The problems of ethno-nationalism and its extremist manifestations are studied by R.G. Abdulatipov, Yu.V. Harutyunyan, Yu.G. Volkov, L.M. Drobizheva, G.S. Denisova, V.N. Ivanov, Yu.Yu. Karpov, E.E. Nesmeyanov, G.V. Osipov, V.N. Ryabtsev, Zh.T. Toshchenko, V.A. Tishkov, L.L. Khoperskaya, V.V. Chernous and others. If V.A. Tishkov and his school attribute all manifestations of ethno-nationalism to political extremism, then L.M. Drobizheva, V.V. Chernous and others develop the ideas of a complex typology of nationalism. Work on the problems of religious extremism in the North Caucasus is mainly limited to the problems of Islamic radicalism in this region. The works of Z.S. Arukhova, V.Kh. Akayeva, V.O. Bobrovnikova, I.P. Dobaeva, A.V. Kudryavtseva, A.A. Ignatenko, A.V. Malashenko, D.V. Makarova, V.N. Sheveleva, A.A. Yarlykapova and others. Islamic extremism in the North Caucasus is considered by the authors in the context of the geopolitics of the Muslim world. These researchers pay attention to the politicization of confessional-state relations in Russia. A number of authors believe that religious extremism is associated with the penetration of non-traditional Islamic movements (for example, Wahhabism) into the region.

Muslim legal culture, its influence on the concepts of Islamic radicalism and their regulation are considered in the works of V.O. Bobrovnikova, G.M. Kerimova, A.R. Sukiyainen. Ethno-national and ethno-religious extremism within the framework of various conflictological theories is considered in the works of Yu.G. Zaprudsky, E.E. Nesmeyanov, E.I. Stepanova, Yu.Yu. Sinelina, V.G. Fedotova, V.Yu. Shpak, I.P. Chernobrovkin and others.

Terrorism as an extreme form of political extremism, its sociocultural and regional features are analyzed in the works of I.M. Vakula, V.V. Vityuk, S.A. Vorontsova, I.P. Dobaeva, E.G. Lyakhova, I.V. Manatskova and others.

Despite significant achievements in the study of the nature of ethno-religious extremism in the North Caucasus, they have not yet received adequate recognition in the Russian community, especially if we keep in mind the political and legal aspect of the problem.

Scientists, legislators, practical lawyers differ in the theoretical understanding and interpretation of such concepts as “fundamentalism”, “radicalism”, “extremism”. This is evidenced by the discussions that emerged in connection with the adoption of the Federal Law “On Counteracting Extremist Activity”, ambiguous assessments by scientists and politicians, and criticism of regional legislation against Islamic extremism.

The expert community expressed the opinion that the same conflicts are taking place in the North Caucasus that are present on the territory of the entire Russian Federation. However, in this region they are more pronounced due to the lower level of economic development, the motley national picture and the lack of control of the national elite.

Historical causes of ethnic tension

Mankind throughout its development demonstrates evidence that the public consciousness of the formed ethnic groups cannot be changed in a historically short period of time. Evidence of this is the surviving confrontation between the indigenous peoples of South America and their fellow citizens – the descendants of immigrants from Europe. The attempts of the latter to “inculcate” the system of Christian values ​​and eradicate the ideas of “savages and atheists” were accompanied by the destruction of the unique civilizations of the Incas, Mayans and Aztecs.

In this sense, the confrontation between the nation-forming nation and small peoples on the territory of the Russian Federation has a dramatic coloring. By the time of the emergence of the Russian state within the current borders of the Russian Federation, the peoples of the North Caucasus were already established communities as nations with their own civilization, namely, with a way of life and housekeeping, religious and everyday worldview, a system of ideas and values.

The origins of today’s problems in the Caucasus and Russia as a whole go down in history. In the North Caucasus, integration with the Russian state took place along a very difficult path with the use of force. The peoples who voluntarily became part of Russia in the past centuries (Ossetians, Adyghes) did not create problems for the federal government. Those who were annexed by force (the Chechens, the peoples of Dagestan) have shown themselves in recent history by confronting the federal government and exacerbating relations among themselves.

The peoples of the North Caucasus were originally different from the main part of the empire in terms of mentality, culture, and level of social development. The apologists of the Soviet government made many futile efforts to instill the Soviet way of life in the population of the Caucasian republics. The small peoples of the region could not “dissolve into the Russian nation.” Traditional culture and the so-called Muslim buffer played a decisive role in this. In this context, religion determined the role of the spiritual substance, which allowed the Caucasian ethnic groups to preserve their ethnic identity and authenticity. A significant difference in worldview, way of life of the small peoples of the Caucasus and the state-forming Russian nation could not but become a threat to the integrity of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation.

Political causes of interethnic tension and extremism

Despite the territorial historical commonality, the causes of extremism in the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District have some differences, but religious extremism is recognized by political scientists, sociologists and jurists as the most significant cause of instability in the republics of the North Caucasus. According to one of the experts, “neither national identity, nor land conflicts, nor domestic troubles, nor migration problems and relationships between generations can be compared with the factor of religious extremism.”

According to experts, in Dagestan since the beginning of the 90s. 117 madrasahs, 17 universities were built in the 20th century, 1600 Dagestanis study in Arab countries in religious institutions. And at the same time, in almost 3 million Dagestan, only two (!) Secondary schools were put into operation during the same period.

Modern Islamism carries a threat to the high level of education that the peoples of Dagestan really received during the years of Soviet power. In recent history, education is gradually becoming paid, elite. Only children of wealthy people can afford to study without restrictions.

Now in Russia, far from being a class, but a real caste society is being created. It does not talk about the availability of education or health care, nor about any kind of equality. This gloomy scenario is largely facilitated by the spread of religion, which is supported “from above” by local elites.

Modern North Caucasian society, and especially Dagestan society, has fallen into the abyss of archaization since the early 1990s. That is why in the 21st century we are destined to deal with the masses of religious fanatics “nurtured” over the years with almost medieval consciousness. They totally reject everything secular. In Dagestan, not only among the clergy, but also among the inhabitants, there is one thing in their thoughts: to create a Sharia state.

For a long time, Kabardino-Balkaria enjoyed a reputation as an island of stability and relative prosperity compared to other North Caucasian republics. The ethnic self-consciousness of the Kabardians and Balkars remains quite pronounced, but does not hinder the integration processes. At the same time, in recent years, the nature of the spread of Islam in the KBR is similar to the Dagestan scenario.

Experts agree that there is no effective policy for the development of ethnic communities in Russia at the federal level. There is a justified trend of the interest of the federal government in the integration of the peoples of Russia, for example, in the creation of supranational federal districts. However, there is no active integration policy yet. There should be (created, act, function) federal and territorial bodies for the regulation of national issues, including conflicts.

In recent years, various ethnic groups have put forward demands in the political sphere for the creation of national self-government bodies or control over the territory by a certain ethnic group as the main condition for ensuring national development. However, most of the large ethnic groups have their own statehood and more or less democratic rights to elect local governments, up to villages. Including legislatures. The governing bodies of the national republics have enough power to pursue an autonomous policy in the field of the development of the national language and culture (the example of Chechnya, where the largest mosque in Europe was built). There is no need to create any other structures, it is necessary to make the existing ones function.

It is necessary to give the leaders of the national republics the opportunity to solve complex issues themselves, and not to remain in the role of a vassal. If they do not cope, then the population should express their attitude towards this, and the situation will change for the better.

Formally, the legal field has the necessary tools to counter discrimination based on nationality. In the Constitution, federal and local laws, this is spelled out to a sufficient extent. There are known precedents for trials of both nationalists and Russophobes. However, there is a need to raise the level of legal literacy of the population in this matter.

Ethnic problems are always relevant for a multinational state. In the last two decades, they have not been given due attention in Russia, so a lot of them have accumulated. To solve them, one can start with hearings in all regions of the country to identify cases of human rights violations on ethnic grounds, at least for the last 24 years. An exchange of views is always useful, especially in an expanded format with the participation of politicians, economists, scientists, elders and other authoritative representatives of ethnic minorities, including representatives of religions. The work of the commission to investigate the facts of human rights violations on ethnic grounds should involve such national leaders, whose supranationality and objectivity of judgments are beyond doubt.

In order to attract public attention to ethnic conflicts on the territory of the Russian Federation, hearings should be open to the public and the media. It would also be very useful for working out the only correct guidelines for the masses. There was at one time a mass effect in the public international policy of the CPSU!

Hearings should be conducted in the form of “round tables” followed by coverage on TV, in a reduced form to the point and widely covered in all media – both central and regional. In addition, it is necessary to open a public forum on the Internet, where everyone can express their opinion, as well as create a commission where the population can send letters, as is done when preparing the responses of the President of the Russian Federation on television to letters from the population.

In our opinion, a criminally punishable ban on the public expression of hatred towards representatives of other nationalities would make sense. In principle, the current legislation contains such paragraphs, only the legal authorities need to respond to such cases in a more timely and effective manner. A group (both at the federal and regional levels) should be formed in the investigative bodies, consisting of experts on ethnic conflicts. In addition, they should have a group of experts on a voluntary or other basis – specialists in ethnic issues, if possible, representing all the main ethnic groups in the Federation, as well as several specialists in conflictology and economics.

If we are a secular state, then there is reason to limit the participation of religious denominations in politics. It should be noted that in recent years this has been difficult to achieve. Moreover, religion has penetrated and intends to expand its influence even in schools.

Nationality, as a rule, is, to one degree or another, a factor in the separation of citizens of one country. Therefore, the state and civil institutions of society should take measures to stabilize interethnic relations. One of the options for solving the national problem can be an understanding of common citizenship – Russian. The Russian nation exists as a community of peoples legally and politically united into a state federation. However, without economic unity there can be no single nation. An example is Germany, whose main efforts are aimed primarily at equalizing the standard of living of the population of the old and new lands, despite the resistance of the old lands – donors. And in the Caucasus since the 1980s. not a single major socio-economic project was implemented.

National contradictions are based on economic problems, the impossibility of solving which is transformed into social problems, most often class problems, and then the oligarchs and the authorities representing their interests try to redirect these contradictions into the mainstream of national relations, thus diverting the attention of the conflicting parties from the oligarchs and politicians representing their interests (or representatives of authorities), which is eloquently evidenced by the current practice of Ukraine. Here also there was no contradiction between the Slavic peoples, but it was artificially created, grew into a conflict and exploded.

Economic causes of interethnic tension

The pursuit of human well-being is the norm. It is important for him to have this quality, as it allows him to satisfy both biological and social needs. If it does not answer them, then the formed consciousness is full of contradictions. In addition, it is largely subject to the external influence of various ideas, including eternal ones: nationalist chauvinism, religious extremism, which is especially important in the archaic conditions of the traditional society of the North Caucasus that have survived to a certain extent. Such susceptibility cannot but be used by forces (both inside the country and outside it) striving for power, control and manipulation of society. As a result, we are seeing, for example, the rapid spread of religions, including in radical and non-traditional forms.

The basis of the well-being of society is the economic resources and the level of development of the economy of the country as a whole and the region of residence, in particular. The economic resources of the republics of the North Caucasus, at first glance, constitute a fairly solid base for the progressive development of the region and high indicators of the standard of living of the population:

  • favorable climatic conditions for agriculture, tourism development, recreation and comfortable human life:

• the whole region is concentrated in the zone of comfortable temperate climate,

• 40% of the soils of the republics of the North Caucasus are recognized as suitable for efficient farming;

• on a relatively small area there is a wide range of climatic zones with pronounced altitudinal zonality: continental dry semi-desert in the east, temperate continental with significant precipitation in the west and cold humid in the zone of alpine meadows;

  • transport infrastructure has a relatively high level of development;
  • a high degree of concentration of labor resources;
  • the territory of the North Caucasus Federal District is saturated with water resources (4% of their reserves in Russia as a whole).

In addition, the North Caucasus has a lot of deposits of other types of resources. Only in Chechnya, proven oil reserves at today’s export prices amount to $12 billion, gas – more than 1 billion. The cost of hydrocarbon reserves in Chechnya is $13 billion. [1] In total, their value is 39.4 billion rubles. in year.

The key resource factor of the North Caucasus is about 2/3 of Russia’s access to the Caspian Sea, which is a key energy field and a key logistical point of the world. The proven oil reserves in it are about $8 trillion [2] , the total geological oil and gas resources of the Caspian are estimated at $32 trillion. [3]

At the same time, the indicator of the economic development of the North Caucasus Federal District is low and does not tend to increase. From year to year, the level of subsidization of the republics, and consequently, unemployment and poverty, continues to be one of the highest in the country. The total subsidies to the North Caucasus amount to 156.374 billion rubles. per year, this is 0.84% ​​of the consolidated budget of Russia, or 1.9% of the federal budget.

The reason for this is primarily the political and economic (investment, corruption) unattractiveness of the national republics. The logistics potential of the region is underestimated. Among the most serious economic problems in the republics of the North Caucasus, experts identified:

  • high degree of depreciation of fixed production assets;
  • high level of depreciation of infrastructure (with the exception of transport);
  • low level of investment activity in the regional economy;
  • low investment attractiveness of the region;
  • high level of corruption and a relatively large share of the shadow economy;
  • high level of unemployment;
  • low indicators of the quality of state and municipal government;
  • low level of labor incomes of the population;
  • high population density, provoking conflicts of interest in the ownership of resources, including land.

The imperfection of land legislation, the lack of cadastral documentation in rural administrations give rise to self-capture and self-division of territories adjacent to administrative units. And this, in turn, provokes a clash of interested parties, which tends to develop into interethnic conflicts.

If economic issues are not effectively addressed, the situation will worsen. The economic recovery in Russia is directly related to the strengthening of interethnic relations.

Social causes of interethnic tension

Among the social problems of the North Caucasus, the expert community especially singled out:

  • low standard of living in the republics;
  • high crime rate;
  • high rates of manifestation of deviant behavior (drug addiction, drunkenness, etc.);
  • increased pressure on social infrastructure as a result of unorganized migration;
  • risks of terrorist attacks of various origins: commercial, political, religious, national;
  • low professionalism of company management;
  • a decrease in the quality of education at all levels (in the budget for 2013-2015, an absolute reduction in spending on education was planned);
  • lack of prospects for young people and, as a result, the perception of the external socio-cultural environment as aggressive and unfriendly, rather than supportive and helping.

The collapse of the economy of the republics of the North Caucasus occurred during the period of economic reforms of the 90s. As a result of these transformations, a small stratum of very rich people and a large mass of the impoverished population were formed. None of the reformers thought about the policy of forming the middle class – a self-sufficient layer of society that serves as a support for its economic and political well-being. The actual unemployment rate in some republics of the North Caucasus Federal District reached 80-90% of the adult population. And now, given the scale of hidden unemployment, official data on the number of unemployed are underestimated many times over. Demand is mainly for low-paid positions in the service sector (salespeople, security guards, drivers, etc.) that offer few prospects for promotion with high demand for jobs in the management system. Statistically, the number of officials reaches 14% of the total population, while in the USSR this percentage was at the level of 0.45%. An increase in the number of officials leads to an increase in the scale of the corruption background.

The earnings of women in the Caucasus began to play a more significant role in the family budget than ever. This justified the growth of their economic independence, consequently, changes in the distribution of roles in the family. As a result, to maintain the existing patriarchal foundations of the family and society, various forms of radicalism, including religious ones, are activated. Unemployment has the strongest impact on the manifestations of its various forms. And, on the contrary, the most effective means of counteraction is the employment of the population in work that ensures a decent standard of living.

For the Government of the Russian Federation and the authorities of the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District, which are determined to fight poverty and unemployment, the primary task is to revive the labor market. The more people will work, the more resources will appear in the budgets of the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District and the federal one, which can be directed to the needs of the population.

Attempts to explain poverty in the Caucasus can be divided into two main components:

  • The poor in the region are responsible for their own poverty. This opinion is unfounded: a significant part of today’s poor people had favorable living conditions before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Moreover, they have expectations that they will “climb out” of poverty sometime in the future. Research shows that most of the poor population, provided that jobs are created, could themselves get out of the humiliating position of social exclusion from society;
  • Poverty is reproduced by structural forces in society. Factors such as ethnicity, clans, etc., shape the way in which resources are distributed, primarily state ones (budgets, extra-budgetary state funds as the largest and most stable monetary funds of the regions, etc.). As a result, public opinion is convinced that the fact that personal success and well-being depend on such factors as belonging to and proximity to the elites in the republics, family relations, etc.

Some experts link the social exclusion of the vast majority of the population of the republics of the North Caucasus Federal District of the Russian Federation with an increase in crime (for example, “forest bandits”). The level of crime in the North Caucasus, perhaps, reflects the fact of alienation of certain groups of the population from society: some people do not feel that the society (state) in which they live appreciates them, and that they have a prosperous future in this society.

The media of the Russian Federation provoke the growth of social alienation, leading to moral degradation, and above all – of young people. The sociocultural (external) environment has a greater influence on the development of young people than the regional (ethnic) one, and is a more significant factor influencing the severity of their experience of an identity crisis. Young people, left without a state ideology, without tangible state support, in the face of reduced opportunities for obtaining quality education, health services, employment, legal sources of livelihood and development, come to realize their own deprivation and readiness to resort to illegal means to maintain the desired level life. Market ideology can justify many means to an end.

Social problems in the North Caucasus cause discontent among the population of all its republics. This is especially evident in the example of Chechnya. The consequences of the military conflict are large-scale. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the social situation in it contributes to the enrichment of an insignificant part of society, the ruling elite and their relatives, while the majority of the population is poor. Moreover, social discontent is “dispersed” due to the state of post-war survival, migration outflow, and religion.

Experts on Chechnya noted the excessive centralization of power, including religious power. Spiritual power is concentrated in the hands of the muftiate. Muftis not only appoint imams, qadis, but also review the texts of sermons.

According to most experts, the problem of the CR should still be viewed through the prism of the post-war state of society. Experts attribute the increase in violence to the spread of ideas of radical Islamism among young people, on the one hand, and to the illegal actions of government officials as part of the implementation of “measures to counter terrorism and the spread of extremist ideology,” on the other.

In Dagestan, religion has become the main ideological “banner”, uniting various groups of dissatisfied under its wing. According to most experts, the spread of the ideas of radical Islam remains the most important factor in destabilizing the situation in Dagestan. Kabardino-Balkaria follows the same path with a difference of several years. The destructive religious factor is also growing in other regions of the NCFD, including even such a traditionally Orthodox entity as North Ossetia.

Conclusion

So, the processes taking place in Russia over the past twenty years have been putting destructive force on the genetics of most of its peoples, including the Caucasians. This pressure occurs through the destruction of rural areas by the market economy, where most of the ethnic population lives, which not only leads to the leveling of traditions and way of life, but also stimulates the assimilation and gradual genetic dissolution of the ethnic group.

In the post-Soviet period, alternative models of regional political systems and ideologies began to take shape, focused on the titular nations in the formation of the power structures of the republics of the North Caucasus. The struggle of the titular nations for power and property began to find support in ethnic nationalism and traditional religiosity, which led to a heightened sense of psychological community with their ethnic community (affiliations). The ethnicity of minorities has acquired hypertrophied forms and politicized in accordance with the interests of certain extremist social groups.

The change of Soviet identity to an ethno-national and religious one exacerbated the problem of state-legal national self-determination in the North Caucasus, the most ethnically and religiously complex region of the Russian Federation.

Ethnic mobilization on the basis of ethno-nationalism and religion in it went beyond the framework of everyday nationalism, ethnicity acquired explicit political functions, and the ethnos moved from the social sphere to the political one. The latter poses a danger to the territorial and social integrity of the state.

By the end of the 1990s, the vertical of power had weakened significantly. In addition, the process of regionalization of the country coincided with the restructuring of the geopolitical and geo-economic pictures of the world, which, in turn, was caused by a number of major trends in globalization. The south of Russia from economically developed administrative units closely connected with each other and the center has turned into an amorphous border formation and has become an object of realizing the interests of various forces, including foreign ones.

The search for the historical, political, economic, social sources of interethnic tension and extremism in the North Caucasus will make it possible to determine the forms of compromise that can alleviate the stressful state of small peoples in the conditions of Russia’s intensive transition to a market economic system.

Bibliography

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  2. Drobizheva JI.M. The Possibility of Compatibility of Civil and Ethnic Identity // National Civil Identities and Tolerance. Experience of Russia and Ukraine in the period of transformations. – Kyiv, 2007.
  3. Malashenko A.V. Islam for Russia. – M., 2007.
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[1] Reserves of JSC Grozneftegaz (01.01.2011 according to PRMS, DeGolyer & MacNaughton classification). –http://www.rosneft.ru/Upstream/ProductionAndDevelopment/southern_russia/grozneftegaz

[2] Oil and gas in the entire North Caucasus is produced only by the state-owned company Rosneft; local budgets practically do not receive income from this production.

[3] Russia began commercial oil production in the Caspian Sea // RIA Novosti. Economics, 03.11.2013, 15:38. — http:// Ienta.ru/news/2010/04/28/casp.

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