"October 2012.". - Format not distributed to depository libraries

Includes bibliographical references

The Caucasus emirate jihadists : the security and strategic implications / Gordon M. Hahn -- The North Caucasus in Russia and Russia in the North Caucasus : state approaches and political dynamics in the turbulent region / Sergey Markedonov -- The "Afghanization" of the North Caucasus : causes and implications of a changing conflict / Svante E. Cornell

The three papers offered in this monograph provide a detailed analysis of the insurgency and counterinsurgency campaigns being conducted by Islamist rebels against Russia in the North Caucasus. This conflict is Russia's primary security threat, but it has barely registered on Western minds and is hardly reported in the West as well. To overcome this neglect, these three papers go into great detail concerning the nature of the Islamist challenge, the Russian response, and the implications of this conflict. This monograph, in keeping with SSI's objectives, provides a basis for dialogue among U.S., European, and Russian experts concerning insurgency and counterinsurgency, which will certainly prove useful to all of these nations, since they will continue to be challenged by such wars well into the future. It is important for us to learn from the insurgency in the North Caucasus, because the issues raised by this conflict will not easily go away, even for the United States as it leaves Afghanistan