In other words they ain't becoming Mother Russianistan any time soon!
Arab unrest inspires Russian insurgents: Kremlin - Yahoo! News
Russia is fighting a growing Islamist insurgency in its mainly Muslim North Caucasus along its southern flank, underpinned by two separatist wars with Chechnya since 1994, where rebels want to carve out a separate Islamic state.
"These (Arab) states are not simple and it is quite likely that complicated developments may occur, including the rise of fanatics to power -- this would mean decades of flames and the spread of extremism, let's look the truth in the eye," Medvedev said in comments posted on the official site Kremlin.ru.
Analysts say last month's suicide bomb on Moscow's busiest airport, which Islamist rebels said they instigated and which killed 36, shows the Kremlin has failed to quell the violence.
Young people angry about poverty and fueled by jihad (holy war) have increased their attacks in the North Caucasus over the last year and exported the insurgency from its traditional centers of violence, alarming officials and ordinary Russians.
Medvedev said this discontent can be battled by developing the poverty-wracked North Caucasus, though critics say billions of federal money already poured into the North Caucasus has had little effect.
After years of communism oppressing religion, Russia's Muslim regions have undergone an Islamic revival over the past two decades, enjoyed by regional leaders and rebels alike.
But insiders and analysts say this overlap could prove dangerous for Russia, which is home to some 20 million Muslims, or about a seventh of the population.
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Rebels also took responsibility for shooting dead three Moscow tourists late on Friday at the country's most popular ski resort, Mount Elbrus in the North Caucasus.
Medvedev sees `fires for decades' in Arab world - Yahoo! News
"These states are difficult, and it is quite probable that hard times are ahead, including the arrival at power of fanatics. This will mean fires for decades and the spread of extremism," Medvedev said in televised comments.
Any attempts to repeat the unrest in Russia would be quashed, he said.
"They have prepared such a scenario for us before, and now more than ever they will try and realize it. In any case, this scenario won't succeed," he said, without identifying the people he considers could threaten the Kremlin.
Russia has crushed Islamist separatists in two wars in Chechnya in the last 15 years, and continues to battle a lingering insurgency in the wider Caucasus region. The region is the epicenter of terrorism in Russia, with most of the high-profile attacks in recent years claimed by or attributed to Caucasus rebels.