In a foreseeable future, federalism remains an important part of Russian political life, despite stubborn efforts by Vladimir Putin during his presidency to deprive it of many of its essential traits. The Russian model of federalism is described, after Andrey Zakharov, as unitary federalism. This is because the very idea of federalism is flawed, masking the efforts to influence political reality without subscribing to its core concept. Unitary federalism plays an important role in contemporary authoritarian Russia; it is one of its corner stones responsible for its durability. Together with some other innovations, liberal and oppressive, as far as symbolic and psychological deeds, introduced between 2012 and 2014, it represents an attempt to prolong its nondemocratic characteristic.
Current migration processes in the Russian Federation are very dynamic. This country is one of the most popular destinations for foreign workers, particularly for citizens of the neighbouring states. At the same time, massive outflows take place from the Federation’s territory. The main aim of the article is to analyse the migration policy of the Russian Federation in a broader context of political, economic and population changes which have determined the direction and contents of the state policy over recent years. Migration policy is strongly related to foreign policy addressed by Russian authorities towards post-Soviet states, and to economic and demographic interests of the Federation. The impulse towards a more open approach towards the inflow of foreigners is directly linked with a growing demand for foreign labour and, in a long-term perspective, to unfavourable demographic prognoses which predict a decrease of economically active population and depopulation of the peripheral regions of the Federation.
The following article aims to present the main conditions and assumptions of the Russian federal centre’s policy on the North Caucasian Republic of Chechnya in the context of the radical Islam activity which destabilizes the region and other threats to territorial integrity. It is worth mentioning that the strategic location of the North Caucasus and, first and foremost, the unstable political situation of the region constitute a major challenge for the long-term policy of the Russian Federation in the Caucasus, Central Asia and the Black Sea region. The authorities of the Kremlin are fully aware of this, therefore the present Russian policy on the region puts emphasis on suppressing separatist tendencies and, as much as possible, tightening bonds between the Caucasian republics and the Russian Federation.
Artykuł prezentuje zjawisko napływu migrantów-muzułmanów z Północnego Kaukazu do mającego charakter wielowyznaniowy obwodu astrachańskiego Federacji Rosyjskiej. Ukazane zostało historyczne tło, sprzyjające ruchom migracyjnym z racji na wspólnotę kultury. Zwrócono także uwagę na czynnik geopolityczny, czyli stosunkowo bliskie położenie Północnego Kaukazu względem Dolnego Powołża, oraz napiętą sytuację etnopolityczną w regionie Kaukazu. Podkreślono również, że wraz z napływem ludności kaukaskiej pojawiły się skrajne ruchy religijne – salafityzm i wahabbityzm – dotychczas nieobecne w życiu religijnym muzułmanów Dolnego Powołża.
The article addresses the issue of security of and migration in one of the Russia’s key regions – the Southern Federal District, which lies between the Republic of Northern Caucasus, Asia Minor, the Caspian Sea and Central Russia. Phenomena occurring here, such as lowering of the level of security and uncontrolled migrations, have negative impact not only on Russia’s internal situation but also on its foreign policy.
