Charles King
Essay
Jul/Aug
2010
A pernicious mix of heavy-handed rule, corrupt governance, high unemployment, and militant Islam has reignited the Russian North Caucasus. Today, it is not only the old conflict zone of Chechnya but also its neighboring republics that are bordering on open civil war.
Capsule Review
May/June
2010
King trains his eye on two targets. One is the large, shapeless issues of nationalism, ethnic politics, and social violence and the indirectly related phenomenon of communism's demise in Eastern Europe. The other is the way scholars conceive nationalism and theorize about its consequences.
Postscript
The recent EU report on the 2008 Russia-Georgia War confirms that both Georgia and Russia acted irresponsibly before and during the war. But it misses an opportunity to outline how the long-running territorial disputes of the Caucasus might be best resolved.
Essay
Nov/Dec
2008
The August war over South Ossetia has rekindled a superpower rivalry and showed the West that Moscow no longer heeds multilateral institutions.
Postscript
Charles King's postscript to his March/April 2003 essay "Crisis in the Caucasus: A New Look at Russia's Chechen Impasse."
Postscript
King's postscript to his March/April 2004 essay "A Rose Among Thorns: Georgia Makes Good"
Comment
Mar/Apr
2004
Georgia's recent, peaceful revolutions might allow the country to become a beacon of hope for a troubled region. For that to happen, however, its new leaders must find a way to deal with local secessionists, as well as with Moscow and Washington.
Review Essay
Mar/Apr
2003
Why is Russia hopelessly mired in Chechnya? A new book skillfully details the history of the conflict, but it also goes astray in its often groundless invective.
Review Essay
Nov/Dec
2001
Stuart Kaufman tries to explain why so many ethnic conflicts erupted at the end of the Cold War. The only problem is that few of these had anything to do with ethnicity in the first place.
