When it comes to the security of the Russian Caucasus, Chechnya is a buzzword. Traditionally in the spotlight are developments in the republic  and the personality of its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, and his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin; rarely on the radar of foreign experts and diplomats is the vibrant diplomacy Chechnya conducts in the Middle East. Although many inside Russia see this self-made foreign policy as a drift toward even more de facto independence, Chechnya’s activity in the region may breathe new life into Russia’s relations with many of the Middle Eastern states who don’t see eye to eye with Moscow.

The very phenomenon of direct outreach to the Muslim world is not a new thing in post-Soviet Chechen history. During the two wars (1993-1996 and 1999-2000), first separatist and then jihadist warlords found sympathy in Turkey and some Gulf states, where some are still harbored. With Putin's rise to the Russian presidency, Akhmat-Haji Kadyrov, the father of current Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov and the former mufti of the unrecognized Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, was elected the first president of Chechnya.

In January 2004, after just two months in office, he traveled to Saudi Arabia to declare, “Chechnya will become a linking chain in Russian-Saudi relations.” It certainly was symbolic since both countries needed a reset of their stark relations, and Putin called on the Saudis to help rebuild Chechnya by financing large infrastructure projects. Most importantly, during the trip, Akhmat-Haji Kadyrov suggested the creation of the International Center for Interpretation of Islam — an institution that would, among other things, issue fatwas responding to terrorist attacks carried out in the name of Islam.

His assassination in a bomb blast in May 2004 halted this and other initiatives. But his son continued the efforts immediately upon seizing power in 2007: Ramzan Kadyrov impressed a delegation of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) visiting Chechnya by the scale of its progress after a decade of conflict. By 2010, he was privileged to be the first of all the foreign statesmen to twice participate in the ablution ceremony of Kaaba and become the first Russian Muslim ever to do so. In subsequent years, he became a welcome guest at many royal households, meeting with King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, King Abdullah II of Jordan and dozens of other Middle Eastern movers and shakers, including twice with the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.