DUSSELDORF, GERMANY
President Kadyrov: a boor or a prophet?
Most Russians perceive the Chechen President as a boor. But for the Chechens Mr Kadyrov is a prophet and a tribune, embodying the hopes of a long-suffering people. A devout Muslim, he fits in well within the narrow framework of the values that prevail in that republic. He prays daily in the new mosque, he does not drink or smoke. He is thought to be a guarantor of peace for which a million people yearn after two bloody wars for independence. He is the one who will restore the devastated country, the Chechens believe.
Mr Kadyrov is the key figure in a crisis concept Vladimir Putin has developed for the Caucasus powder keg: the Russian Premier has allowed Mr Kadyrov to establish an Islamic totalitarian regime generously financed by Moscow. In this way the Prime Minister hopes to maintain stability in the most explosive of all the Caucasus republics. But what will happen if one day billions stop flowing from Moscow? Already this year Mr Putin is cutting aid, and starting in 2012 he wants to treat Chechnya like any other republic within the Russian Federation. That is the deadline by which President Kadyrov will have to demonstrate that he can improve the economic situation even without Mr Putin's checkbook.
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BERLIN, GERMANY
The new thrift of Russian billionaires
In Moscow's jet set the festive mood is no longer topical. Champagne and caviar are more often replaced with Russian vodka and traditional pelmeni. The high life of the Russian super-rich is changing dramatically after many years of economic prosperity.
Business in the city's most expensive restaurants has dropped by half. Expensive boutiques are closing their Moscow branches for lack of revenue. Meanwhile unemployment in Russia is soaring and has reached the highest level in the last four years. As one Moscow public opinion poll established, last year the number of Russians who consider themselves poor doubled to 14%.
"You cannot enjoy your wealth when other people are starving," says Boris Teterev, the head of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in Moscow. Apparently politics plays a part in the new frugality among the Russian upper crust. In March, President Dmitry Medvedev called on the wealthy to care less about personal consumption and more about their business in order to cope with the economic crisis... Mr Medvedev described the crisis as a test of maturity. Government television and radio channels announced the start of an "anti-glamour revolution."
The oligarchs don't want to spoil relations with the Kremlin. One of the main reasons is that the benevolence of political leaders protects them from Western creditors.
"However, the modesty is often only a façade," Mr Teterev says: "Those who have lost their money pretend they are simply following the general trend. But those who have money will never give up a chauffer or a staff of servants."
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LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN
The price of peace in Chechnya
The war is over. Russia has announced the end of the counterterrorist operation in Chechnya. The end is hailed as a victory. But two serious questions remain. First: is it worth the price that has been paid? And second, has the Kremlin achieved its goals? Chechnya had de facto independence before 1999 when Mr Putin ordered the Russian Army to put down the separatist movement in the North Caucasus. Unlike the first war, which broke out in the mid-1990s, Moscow managed to win over the leaders of some teips (clans) who previously fought on the side of the enemy. They included Akhmat Kadyrov.
Akhmat Kadyrov was elected the first president of the republic in 2003 and was assassinated in 2004. But the militants were weakened: over the next several years many field commanders were killed and hundreds of fighters gave themselves up. Now Mr Kadyrov's son, Ramzan, is ruling the republic with an iron fist. Many in Russia admit that Ramzan Kadyrov has managed to establish some kind of order and achieved stability in Chechnya. The rebellion has been put down, budget revenues have increased and reconstruction is in full swing. But the high price paid for all this includes massive human rights violations in the republic and the armed settling of accounts that took place in Dubai in recent months.
Chechen stability is similar to the order Mr Putin has established all over Russia: dissidents are removed through bribery or coercion. One has a feeling that the stability has something to do with myth. A final victory over the terrorists has not been won; the situation in neighbouring Dagestan and Ingushetia also remains highly volatile. The fact that Ramzan Kadyrov has concentrated all the power in his own hands prompts the question: has Moscow really achieved its goals?
Of course, Chechnya has not broken away, but it hasn't become part of Russia either. The elite have been pacified, but problems remain. The pact with the Kadyrovs involved significant power for the local ruler in exchange for Chechnya's formal recognition as part of Russia. In words, Mr Kadyrov is loyal to Moscow which for its part turns a blind eye to the less savoury aspects of his rule.
In the opinion of one North Caucasus analyst, Mr Kadyrov has put into practice the dreams of the separatist leaders, not through military action, but rather through Moscow's connivance. In that sense the end of the operation in Chechnya is Kadyrov's victory. He is already ruling Chechnya as his own fief, a state within a state, and he will now have still greater control. This may create a serious problem for Moscow if the Kremlin decides that Kadyrov should be removed from power.
Nikolai Zubov