Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be broadly backing the US anti-terrorism offensive. But Russian political commentators have been far more reserved in their appraisal of Putin's offer of assistance than many of their American counterparts. Russia, they suggest, is ready to pursue a different agenda against terrorism.
In steering Russia on a cooperation course with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin has managed to overcome considerable opposition in several powerful constituencies in Moscow.
The Bush Administration is developing a Russian/Eurasian anti-terrorism strategy, involving cooperation with Russia and the Central Asian states of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, which border Afghanistan. This strategy will have to combine a broad spectrum of military, intelligence and law-enforcement measures.
A week after terrorists struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, officials from Tajikistan and the UN met in Dushanbe to fight drug trafficking and abuse. Participants worked on ways to fight a scourge they've already battled for five years - but one that has taken fresh relevance because trafficking profits are reportedly a vital source of income for the Taliban.
August 15, 2001, is a fairly typical day in Grozny, Chechnya's largest city. City life is concentrated in the neighborhoods that are less ruined than other parts of the city: Poselok Kalinina, micro-rayons 3, 4, 5, 6 and parts of Minutka, Zavodsky rayon and Poselok Chernorechye. In general, the existence of even a small market in any part of the city testifies that there is life nearby.
Russia stands to play a major role in an international anti-terrorism coalition being forged by the Bush administration. But many experts and officials in Moscow insist that Russia will cooperate in the struggle against terrorism on its own terms.
The September 11 terrorist attack on New York and Washington, apparently perpetrated by Islamic radicals, initiated a shift in the world's geopolitical tectonic plates. This change of paradigm clears the way for a global struggle against terrorism.
On the surface, the atrocities of September 11 may provide support for the policies of repressive governments, such as President Islam Karimov's administration in Uzbekistan.
The second year of the second Chechen war is ending, and a decisive military victory for Russian forces over "illegal militant formations" remains almost as distant as it was in the fall of 1999. Moscow seems to be losing its resolve to "smash the hydra in its cave," as President Vladimir Putin once put it.
