MUST READ: UNDERSTANDING CHECHNYA PART I: A SHORT HISTORY

Understanding Chechnya Part I: A Short History
Tom Ordeman, Jr.

Author's note: This is the first piece in a series on Chechnya. A remote and poorly understood component of the Russian Federation, Chechen history is dominated by secessionism and influenced in part by Islamism. In order to understand the global connections of international terrorism, one must understand Chechnya.

As the conflict between the West and militant Islam continues, international focus has fallen primarily on Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran. While Afghanistan and Iraq remain the primary fronts in this conflict and Iran remains the primary state sponsor of terrorism, terrorism remains a globally linked phenomenon. Terrorism and Islamist militancy have played a pivotal role in the recent history of the Russian Federation. Both phenomena have played an important role in Russian domestic and foreign policies, and terrorism within Russia is believed to have influenced terrorism globally. The region of Russia most closely tied to Islamist militancy, separatism, and terrorism is one that many of heard of, but few are truly familiar with: Chechnya.

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Another factor, possibly more important than the issue of political cohesion, was and is Chechnya's natural resources in general, and oil in particular. Just as the Russian Federation continues to exert its influence over the energy resources of the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union, Russia was and is unwilling to sacrifice the Chechen component of its energy infrastructure. These oil fields, among others, combine with Chechen and Central Asian gas reserves to become a piece of Russia's last credible trump card in its relationship with the outside world. Russia's disputes during the last several years with Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania over energy supplies demonstrate how crucial Chechen oil is to an otherwise unstable Russian economy.

The next piece in this series will detail the two Chechen Wars and the history of Chechen terrorism.



Pertinent Links:

1) Understanding Chechnya Part I: A Short History