Military Review English Edition January-February 2015 | Page 109

RUSSIA AS THREAT in the late 1990s, the Clinton administration not only criticized Kremlin conduct of the war but even provided tacit encouragement to Chechnya’s Muslim allies and private security companies to assist Islamist rebels in Chechnya.42 More recently, the administration of President Barack Obama has shown even less tolerance for Russia’s efforts to stamp out separatist movements inside Russia by defeating restive rebellions within its borders. In January of 2012, he appointed the strident Kremlin critic, Michael McFaul, to serve as the U.S. ambassador in Moscow, where he has subsequently hosted at the embassy a variety of opposition activists including secessionists, some of whom were suspected as being linked to terrorists, according to the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.43 Although such policies may win short-term geo-political gains among some international groups sympathetic to separatist goals, they could have devastating consequences in the future because they stymie efforts to cultivate the kind of good will and support from Russia that the United States will need to deal with its own set of emerging security challenges. Russia Courting the Islamic World To counter what it apparently perceives as hostility from the West in general, and the United States in particular, Russia appears to be making a strategic effort to ingratiate itself with, and restore some of its Soviet-era influence in, the Islamic world. To that end, Putin has sought to publicly demarcate in the Muslim world his view of what constitute “good” and “bad” Islamic militants; the latter are the Chechen separatists and their allies in the North Caucasus and Tatarstan, while the former include those who challenge the United States and Israel.44 This approach has had significant political success. At the 2003 meeting of the Islamic Conference Organization held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, amidst anti-Zionist and anti-American tirades, Putin elaborated on that theme while describing Russia in stark contrast to the West as Islam’s “historic defender.”45 Russia was later invited to join that organization as an official observer in 2005. In this same vein, at a speech on 24 June 2009 in Cairo before the Arab League Conference, then-President Dmitry Medvedev emphasized the importance of Islam to Russia, commenting that owing to Russia’s large Muslim population, his (AP Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko) MILITARY REVIEW  January-February 2015 Muslims pray outside Moscow's main mosque during celebrations of Eid al-Adha, 15 October 2013. The feast, celebrated by Muslims worldwide, is called Kurban-Bairam in Russia. 107