The North Caucasus region has been a source of instability for the past several centuries. Underlying social, economic, and political issues of the region remain. A low-level insurgency persists in the North Caucasus region, with occasional terrorist attacks in the Russian heartland. Chechnya functions as a de facto independent entity; Islamist influence in Dagestan is growing, as terror attacks continue, and the rest of the North Caucasus requires massive presence of Russian security services to keep the situation under control. This book examines these underlying issues and finds few reasons to expect any substantial improvement in the situation for years to come.