The Caucasus "Simplified"

So, now the Caucasus are in the news.

So much hyperbole, so much conjecture, so much "rush to be first" or "breaking....." But don't worry. There will be folks who will break the Caucasus down for us into bite sized pieces....

And they will all be wrong.

I can only do harm to the region by attempting to do what I am about to do, but today seems to just scream for clarity in the wake of a very emotional and tragic incident, so I'm going to jump in and "simplify" the Caucasus for the newcomer.

First of all, the discord in the region goes back hundreds of years. You have natives of the region fighting against occupation by the Russians. You have tribes fighting each other. You have conflicts between various streams of Islamic theologies.

Now, in addition to the above, you have residents of the Caucasus who are NOT involved in the conflicts listed above but are being forced by a side (pick a side) to PICK a side.

Then you have innocent bystanders who are enraged and filled with grief as their family members are abducted by the various sides because they believe that those family members are on "the other side." Abductions by FSB, militia, insurgents, believers in the "correct" version of a theology.....

And then you have people who just simply want to be left alone, but have to make decisions daily about who they are going to trust and interact with just to get by........

The conflict has raged for so very, very long...... the conflicts of the 90s are the greatest (closest) in Western memory, being the most recent, but really only those with an interest in the region remember them. The horrors of Beslan, the Dubrovka theater; these things are not common currency of thought outside of the region and Russia, and the Kremlin has done its part in downplaying the fact that the killing goes on almost daily, with a toll that would shock outsiders if they really knew how many were dying......

The need for a scapegoat, a villian is visceral and completely understandable. Having been born and raised in and around downtown Boston my stomach lurched, I was enraged, and I myself wanted vengeance.

But I have also learned in my life that no answer is simple, although people search for simple answers because complexities in the face of visceral emotion is maddening and not as gratifying as a simple solution.

The caucasus: a region of absolute beauty, deep and rich culture, and yes, turbulent conflict and tremendous amounts of bloodshed..... and much more complicated than a simple answer.

Looking back at my intent at the beginning of this post to "simplify" the Caucasus for the newcomer I can only feel as though I have failed at what I set out to do, but hopefully you have come away with the understanding that there IS no simple answer...... and to attempt to make a simple answer out of a complex and disturbing incident such as the Bombings in Boston by pointing to a region or a faith or an ideology will only cloud matters more at a time when the fog of confusion and outrage lies thick upon us.

What else do I know about the connection between the bombers and the Caucasus? Nothing, really. And I'm hoping that as time goes by we receive accurate and timely information from our law enforcement agencies.

But what I DO know is that there is never a simple answer, no matter how much we'd like for there to be one...... and any involvement with the Caucasus that the bombers may have will not be simple either.

Hopefully I've simplified things for you!