Russia: The End of Bashkir and Tatar Independence

Longtime Bashkir President Murtaza Rakhimov has resigned, only months after the long-serving president of another semi-autonomous Muslim republic, Tatarstan, left office. Their departures provide an opportunity for Moscow to reconsolidate control over the two regions and integrate their substantial energy resources into the larger state-owned firms like Gazprom and Rosneft, and point to an increased confidence on the part of the Kremlin to contain any potential outbreak of violence in the country's restive Muslim regions.