That all makes sense; I probably won't have anything new to say until I've checked out Martin's book (as well as Jaimoukha's on the Caucasus, as recommended by

That all makes sense; I probably won't have anything new to say until I've checked out Martin's book (as well as Jaimoukha's on the Caucasus, as recommended by alephnerd)... Thanks very much for the reply! (I enjoy multi-{day,week} convos, but HN makes them difficult to continue) EDIT: OK, I guess one thing: as to "Cossacks" I'd meant the analogy to be use against domestic, not external, enemies; maybe I'm reading too much between the lines when I hear rumours of Chechens involved in violent altercations throughout the RF but never being prosecuted?