Interethnic Relations in Southern Federal District within the Framework of External Challenges (on the Basis of Ethnological Monitoring)

The author investigates such issues of interethnic relations in Southern federal district entities in 2014 during
which the Russian Federation faced geopolitical challenges. These were the Olympic Games “Sochi-2014”, Ukrainian
political crisis accompanied by a massive fl ow of forced migrants from Ukraine accommodated in the southern regions of
Russia; the 4th Summit of the Caspian Sea region state leaders, which turned out to be one of the replies to the foreign
sanctions. The author is focused on the interethnic relations, the general trend of which is defi ned by an ability of SFD
management to increase effi ciency of managerial decisions.
Basing on the analysis of statistical data of demographical, social and economic development of Southern
federal district entities, the author demonstrates positive development of social and economic situation that contributes
to strengthening interethnic relation in the district. Monitoring of interethnic cooperation in 2014 demonstrates that
domination of title ethnic communities in the Republics of Adygea and Kalmykia in the government shifted tension
from the area of interethnic relations to the area of internal political ones. In the territories dominated by the Russian
population, foreign political challenges led to activating traditional values and strengthening the political status of the
Cossacks.