Russia's New Chechnya Problem

The political clan system that Russian leader Vladimir Putin spent a decade building has fallen apart. Amid the disarray, Chechnya has been left without a manager in the Kremlin. Vladislav Surkov — himself half-Chechen — had served as Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov's handler, but Surkov has been demoted and Kadyrov has indicated that he could step down as president. This jeopardizes Chechnya's stability at an inconvenient time for Putin, who will have to work with numerous political players to maintain calm in the historically restive region.