The Chechen authorities have lost the peoples' trust and most just want the anarchy to end - even if that means bringing the old rulers back. That gives Russia a second chance to take and hold Chechnya - but only if it is better behaved this time.
Azerbaijan's media put the number of homeless children in the country at 80,000 and rising. But human rights activists believe even this is an underestimate.
Back in August Armenian president Robert Kocharian and his Azerbaijani counterpart Heydar Aliev met in Geneva to sort out Karabakh "man to man" behind closed doors.
The message from the Kremlin PR machine on its latest campaign in the north Caucasus is simple. "We'll win it this time"
Politics has, it seems, never been so popular in Georgia. But the voters are being offered two very different views on the country's future by parties contesting the coming parliamentary elections.
Farmers and householders continue to find unexploded bombs despite extensive mine clearance efforts.
President Alexander Ankvab likely to seek continuity, though some fear more authoritarian style.
No self-respecting nation can allow someone else to guard its borders, whatever ambitions Moscow might have, analysts say.
Analysts blame authorities for failure to secure legal position of temporary workers in Russia.
