“The Sleeping Beauty of the Caucasus”: Kavkazskii Uzel and Contemporary Views on Politics and Security in Kabardino-Balkaria

In the post-Soviet North Caucasus, the Kabardino-Balkar Republic, where political tensions among its constituent nationalities are never far from the surface, long sat precariously between the region’s peaceful northwest and its tumultuous northeast. Observers of the political and security situation in the North Caucasus have long viewed the multi-ethnic Kabardino-Balkar Republic as integral to the fate of the region as a whole. During the first fifteen years of post-Soviet history, Kabardino-Balkaria was conspicuous for its absence of violent conflict and relative inter-communal accord. Several Islamist-led attacks in 2004 and, more violently and infamously, 2005 shattered any illusions of Kabardino-Balkaria’s immunity to the violence that had plagued much of the region since in recent years. By 2010 and 2011 assassinations of high-ranking officials and public figures and attacks on police patrols reached a peak, and Kabardino-Balkaria ranked alongside Ingushetia and Dagestan as one of Russia’s most violent regions. Since late 2012, however, the scale and frequency of these attacks have diminished significantly. This article uses social media as lens to analyze the attitudes of residents of Kabardino-Balkaria toward issues of politics and security in the region. This article pays particular attention to commentators’ views on the Islamist insurgency and its ideological opponents (Circassian/Kabardian and Balkar national activists and the republic’s ruling elite). Specifically, this article analyzes the content of Kabardino-Balkaria-related discussion forums on the popular Caucasus news and analysis website Caucasian Knot (Kavkazskii Uzel). This analysis is contextualized with a brief ethnographic and historical survey of inter-communal relations, Islam, and politics in Kabardino-Balkaria.This article uses social media as lens to analyze the attitudes of residents of Kabardino-Balkaria toward issues of politics and security in the region. This article pays particular attention to commentators’ views on the Islamist insurgency and its ideological opponents (Circassian/Kabardian and Balkar national activists and the republic’s ruling elite). Specifically, this article analyzes the content of Kabardino-Balkaria-related discussion forums on the popular Caucasus news and analysis website Caucasian Knot (Kavkazskii Uzel). This analysis is contextualized with a brief ethnographic and historical survey of inter-communal relations, Islam, and politics in Kabardino-Balkaria.