ABSTRACT
The decline and fall of the Soviet Union have been accompanied by a dramatic rise in local instabilities, disorders, and even wars in the southern provinces of the former Communist empire, including some parts of Russia's territory. Militant forces and leaders interested in fueling conflicts to forward their own political and economic aims appeared in a number of areas of the Southern Tier. Russia has suspected some "outside" powers of manipulating regional conflicts to improve their positions and increase their influence in the Southern Tier areas. The Chechen victory over the Russian forces has stimulated a number of separatist trends in Russia, as well the ambitious idea of a "Great Chechnya" that stretches from Georgia to the Caspian Sea. Destabilization of Dagestan may result in widespread turmoil in the eastern part of the Northern Caucasus. The Dagestani ruling elite also rejects the notion of Lezgin statehood because it might stimulate the transformation of Dagestan into a federated state.
