The U.S. State Department’s May 26 designation of the Caucasus Emirate (Imarat Kavkaz, IK) proclaimed by then-Chechen Republic Ichkeria President Doku Umarov in late 2007 as a terrorist organization was unexpected. Whether Moscow’s offer, announced on May 27, to mediate with embattled Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to persuade him to step down was the quid […]