Russia
Twenty years in limbo: Nothing exemplified the collapse of the Soviet Union like the bloody fighting over Nagorno Karabakh, and today that enclave remains a source of bitterness and tension.
In the southwest corner of Russia, an Islamist insurgency has spread out of Chechnya into neighboring regions of the North Caucasus and is claiming hundreds of lives a year.
After years of conflict, Grozny, Chechnya is in the process of rebuilding itself, but President Ramzan Kadyrov's radical leadership could threaten the region's growth.
Recent violence from Islamic militants has worsened the already poor economical conditions in Nalchik and the surrounding villages in Kabardino-Balkaria.
Seven years after the Beslan siege of School Number One, members of the community still grieve the loss of the 400 people who were killed in the attack.
A special Dagestani government commission is actively working to lure young men away from local jihad groups known as boyeviki.
Outrage over 1940s Stalinist deportations permeates the collective memories of North Caucasus nations, fueling modern day conflicts in the region.
At the front line in Russia's war on terrorism, it's a war not just of bullets and bombs, but of ideas; and it's a war the Kremlin appears to be losing.
A look at how samovar politics, mixed with rampant corruption, have helped turn Dagestan into the most deadly of Russia's North Caucasus republics.
Why is the Kremlin-imposed leader of this republic sounding so much like the militants he's meant to be cracking down on?
Brazil greats including Romario and Dunga take on local team in game organized by Chechnya's colourful head Ramzan Kadyrov.
In Ingushetia, people have reason to fear Russia's shadowy security forces as much or more than the Islamist militants. Indeed, it has become one of the most unstable spots in the North Caucasus.
What appears to be a religious war or an independence struggle in the Caucasus is, in reality, deep-seated ethinic conflict and hatred.