Understanding the Causes and Circumstances Wars in Chechnya - Essay Example

? Wars in Chechnya: Understanding the Causes and Circumstances and Number Introduction More than providing a holistic narration of the events that transpired during the two Chechnya wars (first in 1996 and second in 1999), I would like to further deepen my discussion by going into the ideological and socio-political tenets that have served as primary impetus for these wars. In this regard, I would like to emphasize that various perspectives must be used in order to completely understand the causes of the two Chechnya wars, which entails a critical look at the main motives of the two involved parties—the rebellious group of Chechnya and the Russian government. Precisely, while it seems logical to claim that national liberation fuelled by fundamentalist beliefs on Islam could be the main reason for the movements of Chechnya (which I shall explain in greater detail in the succeeding parts of this paper), I wish to underscore that the economic and socio-political motives of the Russian government must also be taken into consideration. Perhaps, the terrorist attacks of the rebel groups could be a result and not mainly the cause of war, as Cornell (2003) posited. Aside from this, attention must also be placed on the theories ofpolitical economy that flourished in the neighboring regions of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. For evidences that I shall explore later on, it must be pointed out that the situation in Chechnya quite interestingly provided commercial benefits to Ingushetia and Dagestan. In the end, I wish to argue that the two Chechnya wars must not be simplistically viewed as a result of the ideological viewpoints of the Chechnya people, but rather a result of much complex string of socio-political and commercial perspectives. In order to maintain succinctness and focus in my discussion, I like to divide my paper into three parts. The first part will provide a brief overview of the happenings in the two Chechnya wars in order to highlight the key factors that have led to their occurrence—from the perspectives of the rebellious group and of the Russian government. The second part will synthesize the data gleaned by infusing socio-political, economic, and commercial perspectives into the discussion. The last part will provide a conclusion and shall re-emphasize the thesis presented above. The Two Chechnya Wars: A Brief Overview Located in the Southwestern corner of Russia, Chechnya is primarily considered a Muslim region (Zalman, n.d.). Geographically, it is bordered by Dagestan, to the north, Ingushetia, to the west, and Georgia to the south. Its capital is Grozny. The first Chechnya War, as further noted by Zalman (n.d.), was instigated by the region’s declaration of independence after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Deemed as a huge impediment in redeeming Russia’s economic and socio-political power, President Yeltsin ordered immediate military enforcement in the region (Hughes, 2001). As Vendina et. al. (2007) narrated “Boris Yel’tsin, then-president of the RSFSR, declared a state of emergency in Chechnya in November 1991, dispatching troops to Grozny one month after the region had declared its independence; these were repulsed and the chaos surrounding the Soviet Union’s demise allowed Chechnya to be left to its own devices” (p. 180). As factional fighting against the army of Air Force general Dzhokhar Dudayev increased in 1994 (which was also the time when Russia had already gained its strength as a state), Yeltsin ordered a full assault on the region (Cornell, 2003). In this regard, as Cornell (2003) described the subsequent happenings, “it took two months of massive air and artillery bombing for the federal army to capture Grozny—at the cost of thousands of own casualties, over 20,000 civilian lives, a total destruction of the city, and displacement of hundreds of thousands of people” (p. 170). Indeed, it was crude counterinsurgency tactic as marked by the massive use of firepower that defined the fighting strategy of Dudayev’s army. With the indiscriminate use of airstrikes and artillery, the war caused tremendous infrastructural damage and civilian casualties (Baylis et. al. 2010). In hindsight, most critics and war analysts have claimed that it is precisely the dismal level of preparedness among the Russian troops that led to more damages from their end (Renfrew, 2011). Furthermore, Renfrew (2011) noted that the poor training and lack of discipline of the Russian troops could also be regarded as major causes for the casualties. As Cornell (2003) reported, the first Chechnya war culminated in roughly 50,000 deaths, mainly contributed by the Russian troops. The destruction of Gozny (Chechnya’s capital city) stood as testament to the aftermaths of war. As a result, Chechnya was granted de facto independence in 1998 through the signing of the Khasavyurt peace accords in August 1996 and the creation of the formal peace treaty in May 1997. After the first Chechnya war, public support for Russian troops decreased as members of the Russian press accused the militia of human rights abuses (Baylis et. al. 2010). What happened during the latter the first Chechnya war was a period of inconsistent agreements and surprised attacks. In April 1996, Dudayev was assassinated by Russian aircraft. He was then replaced by Asian Mashakov, a former senior military leader of the Chechen forces. Under Mashakov’s rule, Chechen was able to retake Grozny. However, a ceasefire agreement was created shortly thereafter through the help of the newly appointed national security advisor, General Alexander Lebed (Baylis et. al. 2010). This was followed by a formal peace treaty in May of 1997, which formally ended the first Chechnya war. Peace in Chechnya, as highlighted by Baylis et. al. (2010), proved to be far from complete “Power struggles within Chechen leadership continued; Maskhadov survived several assassination attemplts—which often are blamed on his rival Basayev, the ‘hero’ of the Budyonnovsk hospital incident” (p. 4). In this light, terrorism in Russia continued that included attaches on apartment complexes and railway stations, assassinations of officials in Chechnya, and conflicts in the neighboring region, Dagestan—another Muslim region in the Russina federation. In this regard, it could be said that the second Chechnya war resulted as a response to the deemed strike of notorious leaders Basayev and Khattab in Dagestan in August, 1999. Issues were raised as regards the authenticity of the received report, as many would later on claim that the decision to go to war with Chechnya was made solely by Russia. As Cornell (2003) commented, “further questions can be asked as to how Khattab and Basayev thought to conquer Dagestan with a relatively small force of no more than 2,000 fighters” (p. 170). But as Russian media narrated it, Basayev led a large force of Islamist fighters in August 1999 in order to invade Dagestan by assassinating local Islamic leaders. The taking over of Dagestan was aligned with his overarching plan of creating a bigger Islamic empire within the Russian federation. Although Basayev’s plan failed, the invasion was taken very seriously by Russia that ended in the decision to go into war with the Muslim group (Baylis et. al. 2010). In September 1999, a series of bombings of buildings transpired in three separate locations—Dagestan, Moscow, and Volgodonsk. The attack, which killed approximately 300 Russians, pushed Russian president Vladimir Putin to publicly blame Chechen for the attacks and therefore reinforce the need to go to war with them (Calzini, 2005). Through the power of mass media, Vladimir Putin was able to further strengthen the justification for the war by linking the rebels of Chechnya with the Al Qaida network that bombed the World Trade Center in 2001. Analyzing the primary differences between the two wars, Cornell (2003) pointed out that while the forces during the first Chechen war were united under a single command, the groups during the second war were dispersed due to the lack of unity among the field commanders. Aside from this, the very nature of the Chechen resistance changed. In this regard, the first war was hinged mainly on nationalist ideologies that cried independence from the Russian government while the second war had a more Islamic character, in a sense that the attacks were linked to the concept of jihad. This helped Chechen gain tremendous support from other Islamic nations. Various Perspectives to Understand the Two Chechnya Wars As I have stated during the introduction of this paper, it is important to critically examine the Chechnya wars by using various perspectives in order to widen and deepen our understanding of it. Specifically, while it is logical to claim that the wars could have been led by Islamic fundamentalist beliefs of the Chechen people, theories that concentrate on political economy and agenda-setting must also be rightfully considered. With this, I like to continue my discussion by providing in-depth discussion of various perspectives to help understand the two Chechnya wars. The first perspective banks on the geopolitical narratives that were set to underscore the separatist ideologies of the Chechen people in relation to the spread of Islamic fundamentalism (Vendina et. al., 2007). As he further noted, the wars in Chechnya began as an ethnic separatist motive that spanned for almost three centuries. Gokay (2004), in his work called “Russia and Chechnya: A Long History of Conflict, Resistance, and Oppression” laid down a rich discussion of the conflicts between Muslims and Russians that started with the invasion of North Caucasus by Cossack armies. From the point of view of Russian leaders, their vision for the nation is to expand its territories in order to acquire more wealth, while from the point of view of Chechens, they always wanted to build an independent nation where they could pattern the basic structures of socio-political life in accordance to the teachings of Islam. Such perspective has allowed Vendina et. al. (2007) to interpret the conflict as “a clash between imperial (Russian) forces and a Chechen national liberation movement. The second perspective highlights criminality and official corruption as the main dominant view for the two wars. Indeed, these wars have caused the spread of criminal enterprises not only in Chechnya, but also in other regions of North Caucasus and Russia. As such, Vendina et. al. (2007) rightfully called named them ‘commercial wars’. As for Russia, it is apparent that the war in Chechnya has led the Russian military officials to conduct various forms of social misconduct and abuses among the local people. The establishment of illegal enterprises, furthermore, was also caused by it. Aside from this, while the region of Chechnya received funds from the Russian government as support for the continued destruction of properties, such money were often taken by Russian officials stationed in the area. As for the regions that lie within North Caucasus, political economy rampantly existed. As Vendina et. al. (2007) commented, informal economy has flourished in regions that surround Chechnya, specifically Ingushetia, Dagestan, and Stavropol’s Kray. Firstly, Ingushetia benefited from the wars by announcing to investors that any Russian company that registered in their republic was eligible for a range of benefits, including a reduced profit tax rate and exemption from property taxes and other charges. Dagestan also received tremendous advantages by being able to have “unregulated production and resale of oil and oil products, contraband and counterfeit alcohol (especially cognac) and fish products. Stavropol’s Kray also obtain massive benefits in agriculture and trade. As for Chechnya, the two wars have made the region dependent on neighboring regions not only for electric supply due to the destruction of its major power plans, but also for trade and retail supplies because of the closing of official international links. Conclusion In conclusion, it could be said that the causes of wars in Chechnya must be studied in various perspectives—specifically of the Chechen people, the Russian government, and the neighboring regions. Indeed, while national separatist ideologies that is fuelled by Islamic fundamentalist beliefs could be regarded as the primary reason why Chechen forces decided to go to battle, theories of political economy must also be considered to highlight the commercial and socio-political motives behind the war—both of the Russian government (to formally subdue the Chechen people) and of the neighboring regions to continue the growth of their informal businesses. Bibliography Baylis, Mark, et. al. (2010). Holding a Decaying Empire Together: The War in Chechnya. Strategy in the Contemporary World. Retrieved 12 December 2012 from http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199548873/01student/cases/chechnya.pdf. Calzini, Paolo. (2005). Vladimir Putin and the Chechen War. The International Spectator. Retrieved 12 December 2012 from http://www.iai.it/pdf/articles/calzini.pdf. Cornell, Svante. (2003). The War Against Terrorism and the Conflict in Chechnya: A Case for Distinction. The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. Retrieved 12 December 2012 from http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/docs/publications/Fletcher.pdf. Gokay, Bulent. (2004). Russia and Chechnia: A Long History of Conflict, Resistance and Oppression. Alternatives Turkish Journal of International Relations. Retrieved 11 December 2012 from http://www.alternativesjournal.net/volume3/number2/gokay.htm. Hughes, James. (2001). Chechnya: The Causes of a Protracted Post-Soviet Conflict. Civil Wars. Retrieved 11 December 2012 from http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/641/1/Hughes.Chechnya.Civil_Wars.pdf. Renfrew, Barry. (2011). Chechnya. Crimes of War. Retrieved 12 December 2012 from http://www.crimesofwar.org/a-z-guide/chechnya/. Vendina, Olga, et.al. (2007). The Wars in Chechnya and Their Effects on Neighboring Regions. Eurasian Geography and Economics. Retrieved 11 December 2012 from http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/waroutcomes/docs/EGE_2007_WarChechnya_s4.pdf. Zalman, Amy. (n.d.). Russia, Chechnya and Terrorism: A Timeline of Russian-Chechen Conflict. About.com. Retrieved 13 December 2012 from http://terrorism.about.com/od/originshistory/tp/Russia--Chechnya--Terrorism.htm. Read More