Told from the perspective of its former Foreign minister, this is a uniquely candid account of Chechnya's struggle for independence and its two wars against Russia which will revise our understanding of the conflict and explain how it continues. Features new insights, intimate portraits of key personalities and a foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Recounts the story of the Chechens' struggle for independence and the Kremlin politics that precipitated it. The authors, both reporters on the scene during the war, trace the history of the conflict but focus on the military and political events of the war itself. They conclude with a discussion of the birth of an independent Chechnya. Several maps and a cast of characters are appended. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

A passionate and eloquent case for Chechen statehood.

"This book studies religion and ethnicity and how it influences various social strata and groups in the formation of a civil position and identity, knowledge of the conflict preconditions, and the ways of conflict avoidance to create a solid base for ethnic and religious integration"--

The struggle for Chechnya has come to international prominence in recent years through a string of high-profile atrocities such as the hostage seizures at Beslan and the Dubrovka theatre IN Moscow. For the first time, Western, Russian and Chechen perspectives on the conflict are brought together in a single, authoritative new volume, in which leading experts from all sides of the crisis provide a unique insight into its causes and contexts. Chechnya: from Past to Future creates a historical framework against which the most pressing issues raised by the Chenchen struggle are considered, including the rights and wrongs of Chechen secessionism, the role of Islamic and Western international agencies in defending human rights, the conduct of the war, changing perceptions of the war against the backdrop of international terrorism, democracy in Chechnya itself and the uncertain fate of democracy in Russia as a whole. The precarious position of Chechnya is one of the most important social and political situations of our times and this book should be of interest to anyone with an interest in the world we live in.

Written by a leading expert on modern Russia, this is an illustrated introduction to the bitter campaigns in Chechnya. In this new edition of his popular 2014 work, Mark Galeotti traces the progress of the wars in Chechnya, from the initial Russian advance through to urban battles such as Grozny, and the prolonged guerrilla warfare in the mountainous regions. Bringing the book up to date, including a revised introduction and new content on the Kadyrovtsy's role in Russia's other conflicts, Galeotti assesses how the wars have torn apart the fabric of Chechen society and their impact on Russia itself. Featuring full-colour maps and 50 new images, and drawing upon a wide range of sources, this succinct account explains the origins, history and consequences of Russia's wars in Chechnya, shedding new light on the history – and prospects – of the troubled region.

There is no one-size-fits-all decentralized fix to deeply divided and conflict-ridden states. One of the hotly debated policy prescriptions for states facing self-determination demands is some form of decentralized governance - including regional autonomy arrangements and federalism - which grants minority groups a degree of self-rule. Yet the track record of existing decentralized states suggests that these have widely divergent capacity to contain conflicts within their borders. Through in-depth case studies of Chechnya, Punjab and Québec, as well as a statistical cross-country analysis, this book argues that while policy, fiscal approach, and political decentralization can, indeed, be peace-preserving at times, the effects of these institutions are conditioned by traits of the societies they (are meant to) govern. Decentralization may help preserve peace in one country or in one region, but it may have just the opposite effect in a country or region with different ethnic and economic characteristics.