For years after the demise of the Soviet Union in 1991, and especially the Ossetian-Ingush conflict of 1992, North Ossetian politicians presented their republic as Russia's ‘outpost’ in the Caucasus. Two decades later, the concept of ‘outpost’ fails to ring bells not only among Ossetians themselves, but also the Russian government.
‘Outposter’
North Ossetia is a small republic (population: 700,000) in the central North Caucasus. North Ossetians are the only predominantly non-Muslim non-Slavic people in the North Caucasus. The strategically important and Russian-built Georgian Military Highway traverses the Caucasus Mountains, joining Vladikavkaz, the republic's capital, to Tbilisi and eastern Georgia. To the west one can see the Roki tunnel, South Ossetia's only link to the Russian Federation.
The high level of integration of Ossetians into Russian public life and government institutions dates back to the late Russian Empire. Ossetians were well represented in the Tsar’s army, and, as a result, their support for the October 1917 revolution was mixed, at best. Nevertheless, Ossetians were considered second-class citizens in Tsarist Russia, and the Bolsheviks quickly gained the support of the local population.
