THE CHECHEN CRISIS: ENESIS, DYNAMICS,AND RECENT TRENDS
Abstract
The Chechen war has been widely discussed in scholarly and media writings. However, many of these comments, too simplistic or biased toward one or the other side, help little in understanding the nature of this complex phenomenon. With this in mind, the present article has been thought as an attempt of an impartial analysis of the conflict, emphasizing its long-rooted reasons and immediate causes, and displaying its most recent developments. Referring to open sources and the author’s own information, it highlights both sides’ responsibility for bringing violence to Chechnia, and ex-amines all possible scenarios and potential solutions.
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References
For more information on this period, see: M. Gammer, Muslim Resistance to the Tsar. Shamil and the Conquest of Chech-nia and Daghestan, Frank Cass, London, 1994.
See: D. Gakkaev, Ocherki politicheskoi istorii Chechni [http://www.Chechniafree.ru/index.php?lng=rus§ion=historyrus&row=5], 14 October, 2002.
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Obshchaia gazeta, 14 November, 1996; Nezavisimaia gazeta, 30 November, 1996.
V. Avioutskii, Chechnia: Towards Partition? [http://www.amina.com/article/partition.html], 27 November, 2002.
See: M. Yusupov, Report on Chechnia (November 1998), Forum on Early Warning and Early Response (FEWER) [http://
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R. Khasbulatov, “Ot nesvobody k tiranii,” Nezavisimaia gazeta, 21 June, 2001.
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See: A. Malashenko, D. Trenin, Vremia Iuga. Rossia v Chechne, Chechnia v Rossii, Gendalf Publishers, Moscow, 2002,p. 143.
See: M. Galaev, op. cit.; T.L. Thomas, “The Russian Armed Forces Confront Chechnia: The Battle for Grozny, 1-26 January, 1995 (Part II),” Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement, Vol. 6, No. 1, Summer 1997, Frank Cass, London, p. 148.
Ibidem.
For the Russian and Chechen tactics, see: T.L. Thomas, The Chechen Conflict and Russian Security: The Russian Armed Forces Confront Chechnia, Foreign Military Studies Office, Fort Leavenworth, KS [http://www.amina.com/article], 20 January,2001; G. Troshev, Moya voina. Chechenskii dnevnik okopnogo generala, Vagrius Publishers, Moscow, 2001.
See: M. Galaev, op. cit.
See: War Crimes in Chechnia and the Response of the West. Testimony before the Senate Committee on Foreign Rela-tions by Peter Bouckaert, HRW Emergencies Researcher, 1 March, 2000 [http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/russia/Chechnia/peter-testimony.html], 15 September, 2002; Chechnia—Human Rights under Attack [http://www.amnesty.org/russia/Chechnia.html],4 November, 2002.
See: A. Malashenko, D. Trenin, op. cit., p. 143.
Priroda i evolutsia sovremennogo chechenskogo konflikta [http://www.Chechniafree.ru/index.php?lng=rus§ion=historyrus&row=3], 15 March, 2003.
See: M. Yusupov, op. cit.
See a detailed report at: [http://www.vif2.ru/static/569/111390.html], 22 January, 2003.
See: Priroda i evolutsia…
See: M. Yusupov, op. cit.
For more information on this period, see: G. Murklinskaia, Islam i politika v sovremennoi Chechne [http://www.nns.ru/
ress-file/dagestan/expert/dag12.html], 16 November, 2002; M. Yusupov, op. cit.; F. Longuet-Marx, “La Tchétchénie et le Dagh-estan face à l’empire russe,” Esprit, No. 260, January 2000, pp. 6-14.
See: A. Malashenko, D. Trenin, op. cit., p. 143.
See: Moskovskii komsomolets, 11 August, 1999.
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See: Gortsy Kavkaza, No. 8-9, Paris, 1929, p. 55.
See: G. Murklinskaia, op. cit.
Interview with Maskhadov, Libération, 2 October, 2000; for more information on Islam in Chechnia, see: F. Longuet-
Marx, op. cit.; A. Koudriavtsev, La présence de l’islam dans la guerre en Tchétchénie [http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/
enate/3313/islam.html], 18 November, 2002.
See: “Regards russes sur la guerre en Tchétchénie,” Esprit, No. 260, January 2000, pp. 170-178.
See : Le Monde, 12 November, 2002.
See: Priroda i evolutsia…
For an analysis of Western-Russian rivalry in the Caucasus, see: N. MacFarlane, Western Engagement in the Caucasus
and Central Asia, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, 1999; T.L. Thomas, J. Shull, “Russian National Interests and the Caspian Sea,” Perceptions, Vol. IV, No. 4, December 1999-February 2000.
See: V. Avioutskii, op. cit.; Rossiiskie politiki po-raznomu vidiat politicheskoe uregulirovanie v Chechne [http://
ww.strana.ru/print/162993.html], 31 October, 2002.
See: Moskovskii romsomolets, 16 August, 2001.
See: Chechniu perepisali ran’she vseh [http://www.nns.ru/press-file/perepis/info6.html], 18 November, 2002.
See: Second Chechen Campaign Takes its Toll [http://www.gazeta.ru/2003/02/18/SecondCheche.shtml], 2 November,2001.
See: Le Monde, 11 November, 2002.
See: Chechen Leader Gives up Independence Claim, Seeks Kremlin Talks [http://www.ocha.ru/news], 20 June, 2003.
See: International Herald Tribune, 12 November, 2002.
Solutions to the conflict and the role for the international community are discussed in: V. Tishkov, Puti mira na Sever-nom Kavkaze, Institute for Ethnology and Anthropology of the RAS, Moscow, 1999; Chechnia: The International Community and Strategies for Peace and Stability, ed. by L. Jonson and M. Esenov, The Swedish Institute of International Affairs [http://
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See: “Chechen Violence Turns Inward,” The Wall Street Journal Europe, 30 December, 2002.
See: “Former Maskhadov’s and M. Vachagaev’s Contribution to a ‘Round Table’ on Chechnia,” IISMM, Paris, 5 June, 2003.
Full text of interview with Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov by IWPR [http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/cau/
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Interviews with Maskhadov, Libération, 2 October, 2000; Le Monde, 3 October, 2003.
Interview with Shamil Bassaev, Izvestia, 25 April, 1996; Moskovskii komsomolets, 11 August, 1999; T. Muzaev, Vnu-trichechenskie protivorechia: veliko li ikh znachenie teper’? [http://www.temadnya.ru/spravka/04mar2003], 15 March, 2003.
Interview with Maskhadov, Le Monde, 3 October, 2003.
See: International Herald Tribune, 12 November, 2002.
Le Monde, 12 November, 2002.
See: “Amerika meniaet otnoshenie k Rossii posle ‘Nord-Osta,’” Nezavisimaia gazeta, 4 November, 2002.
See: M. Rozanova, “Kavkazskaia plennitsa,” Nezavisimaia gazeta, 11 May, 2001; V. Avioutskii, “La Russie face au 3ème
Jihad,” Politique Internationale, No. 98, Winter 2002-2003, p. 202; S. Arutiunov, Possible Consequences of the Chechnia War for the General Situation in the Caucasus [http://www.amina.com/article/chapter1.html], 18 November, 2002.
War Crimes in Chechnia and the Response of the West.
See: S. Kazennov, V. Kumachev, Chechnia: tselesoobrazen li razvod s Rossiei? [http://www.nns.ru/analytdoc/sad16.html],
April, 2003.
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