The alienation of the North Caucasus and the subsequent reshaping of borders would mean that a country named Russia in its present form would cease to exist. This tough prognosis of the foreseeable future will occur as inevitably as a cyclical natural phenomenon if we allow the current tendencies to develop according to their natural logic.
The voguish cliche of the perestroika period that "there is no alternative for us" initially forwarded the irreversibility of change, but soon acquired a belligerent revolutionary character, which overwhelmed even the moderates who usually take the time, at least, to look before leaping. The tragic irony was that while the majority was still debating on what it really wanted, the minority had already realized the importance of action.
Russia’s top political milieu is growing restive over the amassed Western penetration into Transcaucasia. The pragmatic West realizes only too well that whoever brings peace and affluence to the post-Soviet territories will have (overtly or covertly) the dominating positions there.
The alienation of the North Caucasus and the subsequent reshaping of borders would mean that a country named Russia in its present form would cease to exist. This tough prognosis of the foreseeable future will occur as inevitably as a cyclical natural phenomenon if we allow the current tendencies to develop according to their natural logic.
The voguish cliche of the perestroika period that "there is no alternative for us" initially forwarded the irreversibility of change, but soon acquired a belligerent revolutionary character, which overwhelmed even the moderates who usually take the time, at least, to look before leaping. The tragic irony was that while the majority was still debating on what it really wanted, the minority had already realized the importance of action.
Russia’s top political milieu is growing restive over the amassed Western penetration into Transcaucasia. The pragmatic West realizes only too well that whoever brings peace and affluence to the post-Soviet territories will have (overtly or covertly) the dominating positions there.
When the Baltic countries entered NATO and the European Union a couple of years ago, many thought it was the end of the centuries-old "red line." Euro-Atlantic organizations had crossed into the former Russian and Soviet empires.
In September 2004, the Russian city of Novgorod hosted an international conference entitled Russia at the Turn of the Century: Hopes and Reality. Its organizers were the RIA Novosti news agency, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Russia in Global Affairs, and The Moscow Times.