Research data show that religion plays a role in the activization of extremist behavior among young people in Dagestan, but that it is a relatively small one. The usual kinds of expression of social protest over difficult material conditions and social injustice, along with manifestations of criminality, are finding religious justification in the…

On September 1, 2004, the community of Beslan, North Ossetia, Russia was changed forever. On this day, thirty-two Chechen terrorists entered the local school on the first day of the school year and took hostage of 1,181 people, mostly children, who were in the school at that time. Over the next three days, negotiations occurred between the…

This article discusses a 52-hour hostage standoff at a school in southern Russia, which resulted in the deaths of more than 330 people, about half of them children. The horrific incident underscored the vulnerability of schools around the world, where the scope of security varies greatly. It has also prompted administrators to reevaluate the…