ABSTRACT
The dramatic and deadlocked situation in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic is the result of increased conflicts regarding the differences in values between the nations and elites of the North Caucasus and the central areas of Russia. As a result, the structure of heavy industry in Kabardino-Balkaria also experienced dramatic changes. Objective reasons for the activities of national movements in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic led to democratization of social and political life, which started in the years of perestroika. The other players in the crisis situation and its management were the mass media, although the federal media did not pay regular attention to the social-economical and the political crisis in the remote North Caucasus Republic. Social, economical and political reforms in the Kabardino-Balkaria Republic could potentially help to alleviate the situation: for example, decentralizing the economic system and/or increasing the local administration's role.
