“FROM INDEPENCE TO WAR”: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE ARMED CONFLICT IN CHECHNYA

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32653/CH203607-620

Keywords:

collective memory, historiography, Chechen Republic, armed conflict, war

Abstract

This article analyzes the English-language historiography of the armed conflict in the Chechen Republic. The study employs a periodization approach, which serves as the basis for source analysis and divides the research into two stages: the path towards independence in the wake of the past (1991-1996) and from independence to war (1999-2009). A content analysis of historical works has been conducted. This research aims to elucidate the construction of foreign historiography concerning the most prominent post-Soviet armed conflict, the information about which is often recreated, distorted, and utilized by numerous authors to portray a negative image of the Russian Federation, both past and present. The study reveals that foreign researchers have largely overlooked the relationship between armed violence and collective memory, instead focusing on the dynamics between the republic and the federal center following the collapse of the USSR. The majority of foreign historiography regarding the armed conflict in the region exhibits a negative connotation, is politicized, and contains an assessment of the relationship along the “center-periphery” axis. The study finds that foreign authors describing the period of 1994-1996 shifted their research focus to separatism in Chechnya and its struggle for independence from Russia, taking into account the historical context (beginning with the Caucasian War). It is determined that the mass deportation of 1944 played a decisive role in mobilizing collective memory prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1994, a topic addressed by virtually all foreign authors. The changed international counter-terrorism agenda following September 11, 2001, resulted in the “Ichkerian” past of Chechnya (1991-1999) being marginalized in public and academic discourse. Foreign works analyzing the armed actions of 1999-2009 began to attract interest for the development of military industry (particularly in the United States). This shift is attributed to terrorism replacing not only traditional warfare but also guerrilla tactics, which were previously widely employed in Chechnya. Foreign authors have observed that since 1999, the image of Chechens has been demonized in public discourse and transformed into that of “mujahideen.”

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Author Biographies

  • Evgenia Mihajlovna Gorusina, Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) HSE, Moscow, Russia; Institute of China and Modern Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
    PhD in Political Science, Research Fellow Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies (CCEIS) HSE, Moscow, Russia; Leading Research Fellow Institute of China and Modern Asia, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
  • Abbaz Dogievic Osmaev, The H.I. Ibrahimov Complex Scientific Research Institute of Russian Academy of Sciences
    Bio Statement: DSc. (in History), Associate Professor, Professor of the Department of History of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages of the Chechen State University, Deputy Director for Science of the H.I. Ibrahimov Complex Scientific Research Institute of RAS Researcher focus: The History of Chechen Republic, the recent history of the Caucasus, the interaction of the Russian federal center and regions

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Published

2024-09-15

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Section

History

How to Cite

1.
Gorusina EM, Osmaev AD. “FROM INDEPENCE TO WAR”: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF FOREIGN HISTORIOGRAPHY ON THE ARMED CONFLICT IN CHECHNYA. ИАЭК. 2024;20(3):607-620. doi:10.32653/CH203607-620