The War In Chechnya: A Theoretical Perspective
Fullmoon
and communications, the 20th century is making its closing statement in
blood. This century has been the bloodiest century in the history of
humankind. International and internecine wars, fought for dubious reasons
such as ethnic conflicts, ethnic cleansing, and vengeful lust for power
swept all over the globe. Along with two world wars and scores of interstate
wars and civil wars, the 20th century witnessed the advent of weapons of
mass destruction and their use for the first time in history.
This century also experienced bitter ideological, political, and economic
competition. The Cold War between the United States and the former Soviet
Union and the current Post-Cold War were the most notable. These wars can be
classified as civilizational War. The price has been very heavy in terms of
the massive divergence of financial and economic resources to fuel the arms
race.
The post-Cold War and the triumph of the West over the Soviet Union has not
brought about peace and stability. While the threat of superpower
confrontations and tension may be over, low intensity conflicts in the form
of civil wars and ethnic violence are on the rise. Due to these
developments, new institutions, instruments and concepts have emerged to
deal with this post Cold war dilemma. Among the most notable is the role of
leadership in conflict resolution.
Two major changes occurred in the post-Cold War era: trends of conflicts and
methods of conflict resolution. International conflict profiles have changed
immensely in the Post-Cold War era. The classic notion of conflict as
defined by the United Nations Charter as "conflict between states in which
the contesting parties have formulated defenses and possibly counter-claims"
has changed. International wars no longer refer to conflicts between states,
but refer also to conflicts within states where violations of international
norms are cited and draw the action of the international community.
Furthermore, the spectrum, nature, instruments, methods, institutions, and
goals of conflict resolution have also drastically changed and evolved.
Building preventive measures, peace enforcement measures, peacekeeping,
peacemaking, maintenance of peace, international alert systems, task forces
to monitor conflicts, conflict management, conflict prevention, nuclear
non-proliferation, external intervention, security communities, and state
neutrality all have undergone tremendous change in their meaning,
terminology, and objectives in our contemporary world.
Four types of wars can be identified in the post-Cold War period; hegemonic
wars where a single hegemonic power sets up the rules of the game on the
international scene, while dissatisfied, newly emerging powers and
challenging powers frequently seek to test the resolve of the "hegemon"
hoping to effect the rules in their favor. In their quest, these challenging
powers hope that the lack of stability in international relations and a
cautious hegemon may provide them with the window of opportunity needed to
obtain their goals and interests. The cases of Iraq and Yugoslavia are
primary examples in this regard. The second type is territorial disputes.
Currently, many countries are in conflict with their neighbors over
territorial claims. There is no region that has been spared this fate. A
third type is ethnic wars, which have become so prevalent in the 1990s that
terms such as ethnic cleansing have become a common word. The Serbs ethnic
cleansing and massacre of Muslims in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Kosovo as well
as the Russians campaign against Chechnya. The Russians under the banner of
fighting terrorism are exposing the Chechen people who have been fighting
for their freedom and independence over the past century and a half to an
ethnic cleansing campaign. In doing, so the Russians enjoy Western moral
support.
Economic disputes are the third type that can be identified in the post-Cold
War era. Economic concerns have become increasingly more important as
identifiable strategic national interests. In an era characterized by
economic globalization, the world community is divided into economic blocks
among which conflict is likely. A fourth type of conflicts is Civilizational
Conflict. An example of this is that Islam and Confucianism are assumed to
be in conflict with the West.
A second phenomenon in the Post-Cold War era is the change involving the
issues of conflict resolution methods. Drastic changes have touched the very
nature of international conflict, and methods of conflict resolution, peace
studies, preventative diplomacy, institutions of conflict resolution, the
development of negotiations, mediation, arbitration, consensus building
measures, preventative measures and other relevant issues. These changes
have brought about a growing international awareness of the dreadful costs
of war, the role of international media, the role of governmental and
non-governmental organizations in resolving such conflicts. Accordingly,
political realism as the sole approach to the analysis of world politics, no
longer retains its credibility because it cannot support positive policies
of conflict avoidance nor promote stable peace.
Among the most important changes in terms of conflict resolution is the
changing of the role of the United Nations from peace keeping to peace
building. The active role of preventive diplomacy is another important
instrument in this regard, as well as the humanitarian intervention for the
support of the values of human rights, democracy stability, and regional
peace.
What is notable about the current conflict in Chechnya is the failure of the
international community to employ such methods mostly intentionally. It
seems as if the world community is giving Russia the green light to
exterminate the Chechens. The Chechens themselves have reiterated on many
occasions their readiness and willingness to sit with the Russians and
peacefully resolve their differences. They have called upon the
international community also to intervene and use the available methods of
conflict resolution to end the conflict with the Russians. Unfortunately,
none of these calls have received a welcome from the Russians and the
international community. Western double standard policy and the alleged
involvement of the Chechens in terrorist action in Russia are being used to
exterminate the Chechens. However, the campaign against Chechnya is
instigated by the Russian leadership for domestic reasons, and sold to the
West under the threat of terrorism. Russia has no substantial evidence of
Chechens involvement in the latest explosions in Moscow and elsewhere. In
fact, the Chechen President offered to provide the West and the
international community with documents about those behind the explosions and
prove the innocence of the Chechens from these charges. However, The Russian
President continuously seeks to divert the attention of the Russian people
from the economic crises and the financial scandals. He also seeks to
influence the result of the coming elections, and suppress the growing self
of independence among the Caucuses people. Russia seeks to continue its
exploitation and enslavement of the people of the Caucuses who are fighting
for their freedom over the past two centuries.
Dr. Mosleh is a professor of Political Science and political analyst for
IslamOnline
ree...@weirdness.com
<pos...@moonface.demon.nl> wrote:
>Dr. Mosleh is a professor of Political Science and political analyst for
>IslamOnline
>
This is God writing, what do you want professor?