Putin's Iron Grip, Forged in the Fires of Terrorism

Sept. 4 marks Russia's Day of Solidarity, a remembrance of two brutal terrorist incidents: the start of an apartment bombing campaign in 1999 and the bloody end of a siege at a Beslan school in 2004. Much as the 9/11 attacks changed the national psyche of the United States, those events altered Russia's trajectory and shaped the identity of the Russian people. They were also key to Vladimir Putin's rise to the heights of power....