Commentary
The war in Ukraine is costing Russia its leverage overseas. Across the South Caucasus and Middle East, this presents an opportunity for Europe to pick up the pieces and claim its own sphere of influence.
William Dixon, Maksym Beznosiuk
Russia's Restless Frontier: The Chechnya Factor in Post-Soviet Russia
Trenin and Malashenko examine the implications of the war with Chechnya for Russia's post-Soviet evolution. Considering Chechnya's impact on Russia's military, domestic politics, foreign policy, and ethnic relations, the authors contend that the Chechen factor must be addressed before Russia can continue its development.
Published on Oct 29, 2003
Source: Washington
In Russia's Restless Frontier, Dmitri Trenin and Aleksei Malashenko examine the implications of the war with Chechnya for Russia's post-Soviet evolution. Considering Chechnya's impact on Russia's military, domestic politics, foreign policy, and ethnic relations, the authors contend that the Chechen factor must be addressed before Russia can continue its development.
Topics Covered:
• Background of Conflict
• Separatist Opposition
• Governance Difficulties
• Russian Mass Media
• Public Conscience
• Islamic Factor
• Russian Military
• Regional Conflict
• International Ramifications
About the Authors
Dmitri Trenin is deputy director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, where he specializes in foreign and security policy. He is the author of The End of Eurasia: Russia on the Border Between Geopolitics and Globalization and coeditor of Ambivalent Neighbors: The EU, NATO and the Price of Membership.
Aleksei Malashenko is codirector of the Carnegie Moscow Center's Ethnicity and Nation-Building Project. He is also a professor at the Moscow Institute for International Relations and former head of Islamic Studies at the Oriental Institute of the Russian Academy of Science.
Anatol Lieven is senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment. A journalist, writer, and historian, Lieven writes on a range of security and international affairs issues. Previously, he was editor of Strategic Comments, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London.
Advance Praise
"...a book different from any other on Chechnya…careful, balanced, nuanced, and analytically objective…. The book, in its original Russian, was badly needed by a Russian public burdened with simple and highly biased notions of the war. This updated version in English will convey to a larger audience the complex ramifications of these wars and create a heightened sesne of the stakes, as Russia, after Beslan, enters a new and more tragic phase of its struggle in Chechnya."
—Foreign Affairs
"Trenin and Malashenko offer the most comprehensive and detached analysis yet available of the meaning of the war in Chechnya for Russia's political development, security concerns, and relations with the rest of the world. It is a very important book."
—Lt. General William E. Odom, U.S. Army (Ret.)
"Dmitri Trenin and Alexei Malashenko believe that the tragic mishandling of Chechnya could put Russia's other post-Soviet achievements at risk. This is a bold, brave and persuasive argument that deserves the widest possible hearing."
—Steven Sestanovich, Council on Foreign Relations and former Ambassador at Large for the New Independent States
About the Authors
Dmitri Trenin
Former Director, Carnegie Moscow Center
Trenin was director of the Carnegie Moscow Center from 2008 to early 2022.
Alexey Malashenko
Former Scholar in Residence, Religion, Society, and Security Program
Malashenko is a former chair of the Carnegie Moscow Center’s Religion, Society, and Security Program.
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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