TRENDS IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICAL INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF REGIONAL CONFLICTS IN THE REPUBLICS OF THE NORTH CAUCASUS

In: Political Expertise: POLITEX, Band 17, Heft 3, S. 273-286

Abstract

The article presents the results of a study of the main trends in the development of regional conflicts in the republics of the North Caucasus region (2010s-2020s), as well as the transformation of political institutions to manage them. Based on the conceptual analysis of the provisions of the conflictological and neoinstitutional approaches regarding the essence of the political institutionalization of conflicts, the authors conclude that the focus of this process is mainly on maintaining stability, and not on the development of the region. The revealed specificity of the development of regional conflict allows us to assert the presence of its cyclical nature, which manifests itself, in particular, in the periodic politicization and depoliticization of ethnicity. The latter remains a significant factor in the development of the region, primarily due to the formation of related identities, which is also manifested in the conflicts under study. The significant role of the confessional factor in conflicts has also been determined. It manifests itself both in the intensification of the religious radicalization of some citizens, primarily the youth, and in the opposition to it by moderately minded clergy. A change in the types of conflict in the region is noted: the scale of conflicts is decreasing and they are developing on the republic or local level. The intensity of the development of conflict situations and the number of violent manifestations of conflict decrease, while they more often take on a latent, non-public nature. As a reaction to this state of affairs, protest forms of expressing contradictions are actualized. In the coming years, the continuation of the trend associated with the hybrid political institutionalization of conflicts and the preservation of an orientation towards their "containment" is most likely.