As we enter Derbent, a fat traffic policeman stops our car, a black Lada of the make preferred by suicide bombers. The cop is surprisingly jovial. A “special operation” against terrorists is under way, he says.
Borderlands
Aboard Dagestan Airlines Flight 372
Dagestan Airlines Flight 372 is a Tupolev-154 which hasn’t seen a redesign since the 1970s. I get a window seat in row 31, where I can put up my legs on a hump that covers the landing gear. The only advantage of my seat is that I’m next to an emergency exit.
The Hitler-Stalin Pact Still Divides Setuland
You won’t find it on any map, but Setuland really does exist. The place is inhabited by the Setus, an agrarian people who have distinguished themselves as singers of marathon epics about their legendary king and fertility god, Peko.
Czech Students’ Lessons on Nazi-Era Ethnic Hatred
As Jaroslav Klenovsky approached his shattered hometown, he encountered a sight that remains seared in his memory. Armed young men were escorting thousands of women, children, and elderly people out of the city. The German population of Brno was being expelled.
Taliban Jars Central Asia
Moscow’s futile attack on Afghanistan was launched from this scorching border town 20 years ago. Now it’s bracing itself for an invasion in the reverse direction.
At World Crossroads in Central Asia, Identity Is Submerged
The reality of life makes ethnic identity secondary to the main task of getting by. The monthly wage on the cotton farm is less than $20, and many villagers look back wistfully to the days when Chairman Kim made it rich and famous.
Four Die in Shoot-Out as Russia Faces Jihadist Threat
“Moscow still hasn’t worked out a strategy on the North Caucasus and hasn’t even tried,” Alexei Malashenko said. “The Kremlin doesn’t want to recognize there’s a real Islamic opposition.”
Where Kosovo’s Ethnic Lines Are Drawn Most Starkly
During NATO airstrikes, Serbian forces raged through the city, expelling Albanians and torching their homes. Today, only women and children venture to the Serb side of the river.
Muslims Exit Serbia in ‘Soft’ Ethnic Cleansing
Belgrade’s repression of Sanjak Muslims began with a show of force. Serb tanks crouched on the hills overlooking Novi Pazar, while irregular soldiers roamed the narrow streets.
Empty Towns, Destruction in Georgia Show ‘Everyone Is to Blame’
Less than an hour’s drive to the north is Tskhinvali, where fighting began after Georgian forces took the city following a night of heavy bombardment. Most houses had broken windows and were either pockmarked by bullets or gutted by shelling.
