So, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, have former communist countries in the Caucasus and the western Balkans.

ECONOMIST: Gendercide

In a hint that the conflict could widen, Azerbaijan and Georgia, two pro-western ex-Soviet republics in the Caucasus, have been warned against offering a haven to a Chechen government-in-exile or to retreating Chechen forces.

ECONOMIST: Russia and its generals