How is that deterrent working out for Russia?
Pretty well - when was the last time you heard of a massive al Qaeda attack on Russia? 99% of their problems are with domestic insurrectionists. And Russians killed almost a million Muslims in Chechnya in just the latest iteration, not to mention lorded it over half-a-dozen Muslim countries for centuries, before they finally broke free with the dissolution of the Soviet empire. How many millions died during the Russian conquest of the Kazakhs, the Uzbeks, the Tajiks, et al? And yet al Qaeda hasn't really done very much in Chechnya - because the Russians will go after their families in their home countries. Al Qaeda attacks the US and not the Russians to the same degree not because it has more grievances against us, but because they see us as weak, and the Russians as ruthless and vengeful.