The Russo-Chechen Wars to the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict - Essay Example

Compare and contrast Russo-Chechen wars to Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Discuss with special reference to theories of conflict The Nagorno-Karabak region was created by the Soviet Union within Azerbaijan in 1924 with more than 94 percent Armenian population. With the increase in the Azerbaijani population, the Karabakh Armenians were annoyed by the discriminatory rule that paved way for hostilities between the two populations in the area. In February 1988, members of the National Council of Nagorno-Karabakh constituting Armenian deputies voted to unite the region with Armenia. Though there was no formal response from Armenia, the move provoked the Azerbaijanis to massacre 100 Armenians in Sumgait. A similar massacre of Azerbaijanis followed in the Armenian city of Spitak. The Armenian protests against Azerbaijan based on Nagorno-Karabakh actually started in the perestroika spirit, but it immediately turned out to be a political organisation called Karabakh Committee that stood for an extensive anticommunist coalition for national sovereignty and democracy. 1 Similarly, the war between Russia and Chechnya started with the ambition of the former to topple the latter’s president through military intervention. The military intervention turned out to be a complete warfare against the people of Chechnya through the invasion and brutal bombing of civil areas in an awkward attempt to bring down the Dudayev regime. The war also awoke the dormant fighting spirit of the Chechens which they had gained from their long martial tradition with roots from a century long, persistent warfare with the imperialist Russian empire in the nineteenth century. 2 ----------------- 1. Nagorno-Karabakh Available: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/nagorno-karabakh.htm Retrieved on February 8, 2010 2. Williams, B.G. 2001 The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?Available: http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol8/0103_williams.asp Retrieved on February 8, 2010 The mounting loss on the Russian side provoked its generals to make a quick response to the Chechen resistance through indiscriminate artillery and aerial bombardment on Chechnya’s capital. The death toll of people in the city was huge and the city was levelled in every part in an attempt by Russia to subdue the Chechen defenders. 3 The conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous area to separate from Azerbaijan and merge with Armenia that started in 1988 was called illegal with reference to the Soviet Constitution of 1978 that allowed merger of a region to another nation only with the permission of the home republic. The conflict in Southern Ossetia since 1990 is a similar case where the autonomous region is a part of north eastern Georgia and the war was provoked by the national administration and supported by the imperialists in Moscow. The support from Moscow was to weaken Georgia. The Georgian-Abkhazian conflict has been the bloodiest of all wars in the region. Though there are differences in the war, all these wars are fought on the basis of territory and ethnicity and the warring sides have used ‘ethnic cleansing’ as a conventional procedure. Though there are beliefs that these wars are religious, it is not true because Ossetians and Georgians are orthodox Christians and most of the Abkhazians also follow Christianity. 4 ------------------------ 3. Williams, B.G. 2001 The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?Available: http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol8/0103_williams.asp Retrieved on February 8, 2010 4.Yunusov, A. 1994 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Vol. 50, No. 1 Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. p.19 Azerbaijan is in a political disposition to safeguard its territorial integrity and sovereignty and therefore has refused to acknowledge representatives from the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh region however are stubborn about their claim for national self-determination. The conflict in the region is a foretaste of a war that can erupt in East European states. Similarly, Abkhazians had been fighting for more autonomy during the Soviet rule and continue to fight even when Georgia has achieved independence. The quest for power remains a major goal of Abkhazians while Georgia takes repressive actions against them that had led to a civil war. Georgia is not offering autonomous powers because Abkhazia is not the only region that demands autonomy but there are Ossetians on the north central part of the country that demand autonomy. 5 In 1994, Boris Yeltsin sent troops into Chechnya that resulted in a bloody war that lasted for twenty months and caused 40,000 casualties. Moscow considered Chechnya to be a part of the Russian Federation. Russia and Chechnya are old enemies that date back to the czarist massacre of 1860. On the other hand Chechens are in an effort to cleanse their land from occupiers. The hatred and mistrust between Chechnya and Russia is induced by historical animosities, political, religious and economic factors and military attacks from Moscow. The conflict reveals that ethnicity is the basic reason that drives and informs Chechens to seek independence from Russia, while economic and religious factors adds to the complications of the internal situation. 6 ------------------- 5. Burg, S.L. 1996 War or peace: nationalism, democracy, and American foreign policy in post-communist Europe A Twentieth Century Fund book New York: New York University Press p.23 6. Persons, G.A 1999 Race and ethnicity in comparative perspective New Jersey: Transaction Publishers p.146 Peace negotiations have not yielded a solution to stop the conflict and the confrontations that have led to mass displacement and expulsion of Azeris and Armenians in the Nagorno-Karabakh area. The refugees live in temporary housing and camps. The number of displaced Armenian refugees post hostilities amount to 200000 from Baku, 72000 from Azeri border village and 50000 from the conflict region. The Armenian government had proposed an integration policy which is not implemented. The war in South Ossetia, in Georgia from 1990 to 1992 has compelled 90000 Georgians of Ossetian ethnicity to move from the Russian Federation. Around that time 280000 people left the conflict region in Abkhazia and continue to live in insecure conditions. 7 Functionalists assume there are no fundamental conflicting beliefs or interests in the society and that the society is mostly in an equilibrium and efficient state. Social life is predictable and is regulated with the provision of required rewards consistently to continue life at various stages and unstructured and spontaneous action is therefore not included. Agreed rules, common tradition, indoctrination procedures, complex socialisation and group solidarity are some of the conditions that facilitate harmony in the society. Normative consensus is explained by functionalists like Merton and Parsons. Merton explains that everyone in the world have the same goals. But the difference in the distribution of resources and social structure allows only few groups of people to achieve their goals. The difference in the ability to attain goals inspires people to adopt illicit or non conformist method to achieve them. Conflict is a method to achieve goals and occurs in a broad normative consensus. 8 ------------------ 7. Zouev, A. 1999 Generation in jeopardy: children in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union New York: M.E. Sharpe, 1999 p.62 8. Bailey, J. 1975 Social theory for planning, Volume 710080190 Boston: Taylor & Francis, Boston p.74 Social scientists present two theories to analyse the causes of war: empirical theory and normative theory. Normative theory explains the morals, ethics and value judgements and explains what is right and wrong, whether the techniques and practices used in warfare are acceptable and that are within the realm of philosophers. On the other hand empirical theory deals with behaviours and outcomes. 9 War takes place when one side assumes that it is better to fight rather than negotiate to achieve a particular goal. If a side gains advantage in its first strike it increases the importance of war. But if the other side gains advantage, then it will make more attractive offers to negotiate the issue. Participants of the war choose to continue in the conflict since they envision more advantages in doing so. The conflict continues because participants feel it is better to resist than give in to the threat. A conflict will not occur if one of the sides is not willing to engage in war. Strong trading relations or prior commitments are other factors that provoke nations to engage in war. 10 Evolutionary theory also provides various factors that lead to ethnic conflict. Ethnic groups are formed of associations that give much importance to ethnic group identity and cooperation in terms of reciprocity, kinship and even exploitation. Ethnic groups forms the basis for promoting group as well as individual interest and the occurrence of ethnic group conflict is a method of competition to access resources.11 ------------- 9. Cashman, G. 2000 What causes war?: an introduction to theories of international conflict Maryland: Lexington Books p.2 10. Geva, N. & Mintz, A. 1997 Decision making on war and peace: the cognitive-rational debate London: Lynne Rienner Publishers p.27 11. James, P. & Goetze, D. 2001 Evolutionary theory and ethnic conflict Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001 p.6-7 Conclusion The Russo-Chechen wars and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were fought to impose the supremacy of an ethnic group on other that resulted in the revolt of the minority groups to fight for better recognition that could enable them to lead a better way of life by availing resources. The definitions of conflict theory conforms to the ideals presented in these wars were people fight for power that further leads to means to access resources to fulfil the goals of human beings for a better living. However, both the conflict have displaced, maimed and left the people on all sides homeless and in an insecure condition. Conflict theory also suggests that the warring sides are aimed to achieve their goals irrespective of the loss they encounter in the way to succeed their ambition. Reference Bailey, J. 1975 Social theory for planning, Volume 710080190 Boston: Taylor & Francis, Boston p.74 Burg, S.L. 1996 War or peace: nationalism, democracy, and American foreign policy in post-communist Europe A Twentieth Century Fund book New York: New York University Press p.23 Cashman, G. 2000 What causes war?: an introduction to theories of international conflict Maryland: Lexington Books p.2 Geva, N. & Mintz, A. 1997 Decision making on war and peace: the cognitive-rational debate London: Lynne Rienner Publishers p.27 James, P. & Goetze, D. 2001 Evolutionary theory and ethnic conflict Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001 p.6-7 Nagorno-Karabakh Available: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/nagorno-karabakh.htm Retrieved on February 8, 2010 Persons, G.A 1999 Race and ethnicity in comparative perspective New Jersey : Transaction Publishers p.146 Williams, B.G. 2001 The Russo-Chechen War: A Threat to Stability in the Middle East and Eurasia?Available: http://www.mepc.org/journal_vol8/0103_williams.asp Retrieved on February 8, 2010 Yunusov, A. 1994 Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Vol. 50, No. 1 Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. p.19 Zouev, A. 1999 Generation in jeopardy: children in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union New York: M.E. 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