Russia's death spiral

HALF past four in the afternoon is peak time for international arrivals at Domodedovo, one of Moscows more efficient airports and the one favoured by many foreign airlines. As passengers leave the baggage-reclaim area, they are usually greeted by taxi touts. Yesterday they were met by a suicide bomb, which killed 35 people and injured 180. The blast was clearly designed to cause maximum damage, and to hit not just Russians but foreigners too. There were eight non-Russians among the dead. The horrific attack has been condemned around the world.

This is the first time that an international airport building in a large country has been attacked by terrorists. There has been no claim of responsibility yet, but Russian security services are confident the bomb was the work of Islamist radicals from the north Caucasus.

Details are still hazy, but it appears that a male bomber entered the building from the car park, and did not need to pass through metal detectors on his way to the arrivals area. A source familiar with the investigation says CCTV picked up the bomber entering the building just over an hour before the explosion. Intriguingly, the footage apparently suggests that he did not have the appearance of a north Caucasusian.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russias president, was quick to blame the airport management for allowing breaches of security. "People were allowed to walk in from anywhere. The entrance restrictions were partial at best," he said. An airport spokesperson said that it was the police, not airport officials, who were responsible for security in the zone where the bomb went off.

Yet no busy airport can check everyone who walks into the building. Areas designed for the general public rather than passengers have lower levels of security in most countries. Mr Medvedevs subsequent order to increase security at Domodedovo by forcing all visitors to walk through! metal d etectors has led to overcrowding, which itself is a huge security risk.

This is why the key role in thwarting terrorist attacks lies with the security services and the police. Yet Russias police often seem more preoccupied with extracting bribes from migrant workers than with airport security. In 2004 two suicide bombers were able to board two separate planes at Domodedovo and kill 88 people, after being briefly detained and then released by the airport police.

No security service can protect against every incident. But the frequency of terrorist attacks in Russiathe last took place in March, when 40 people died in a metro bombingraises questions about the efficiency of the bodies charged with keeping Russians safe. Over the past decade Russia's security services have acquired enormous power and influence, but this has only made them less accountable. Mr Medvedev has ordered an overhaul of security procedures at Russias airports, but has said nothing about the security agencies.

Russia is certainly not the only country in the world facing a surge of Islamist fundamentalism. But its problems have a specific character, stemming from the Kremlin's continued use of failed neo-colonial policies in the Muslim republics of the north Caucasus. Regions like Ingushetia, Dagestan and Chechnya are formally part of the Russian Federation, but have long ceased to be treated as such either by Moscow or by their own citizens.

Corruption and political cynicism make governance in the north Caucasus completely ineffective, says Ekaterina Sokiryanskaya of Memorial, a human-rights group active in the area. The violence doled out by officials and the persecution of particular Muslim sects plays into the hands of militants preaching jihad. Russia, Ms Sokiryanskaya says, is caught up in an escalating spiral of violence.

The growing antagonism of young north Caucasians towards the Russian government and even Russians themselves is matched by h! atred on the Russian side towards the Caucasus. Last month the murder of a Russian football fan in Moscow by people from the north Caucasus sparked violent riots by Russian nationalists near the Kremlin. "Russia for the Russians" was the softest of their slogans.

The incident prompted Vladimir Putin, Russias prime minister, to meet with football fans and lay flowers on the grave of their fallen friend. His gesture spoke louder than his words about the need for respect and tolerance. (Prosecutions of racist attacks on people from the Caucasus, as well as Central Asia, are rare.) Mr Putin also proposed tightening registration rules for migrant workers from from inside Russia, a measure implicitly aimed at people from the Caucasus.

The nationalist riots and the explosion in Domodedovo are two links of the same chain, says Ms Sokiryanskaya. The damage from the airport bomb will go beyond the immediate victims. Instead of prompting a review of the situation in the Caucasus, it is likely to raise racial tensionwhich is already alarmingly high. It is also likely to lead to another increase in the powers of Russian security agencies, to the detriment of security itself.