CHECHNYA: SEPARATISM OR JIHAD

Chechnya: Separatism or Jihad? examines the nature of Islam in the ongoing Chechen conflict. In early 1995 numerous foreign mujahadeen went to Chechnya to assist the separatist movement-there have been foreigners there ever since. Their contribution on the battlefield and their influence on the political situation within the Chechen resistance is not clear. It has been the subject of controversy, misinformation and political finger-pointing by all sides in the conflict.

More disturbing, four large scale hostage-taking raids into Russia in the past decade, Budyonnovsk (1995), Kizlar (1996), Moscow Theater (2002) and Beslan (2004), now referred to as "spectaculars", seem to parallel the growing radicalization of the conflict. These increasingly audacious and violent events also serve as a chronological timeline for the story as they illustrate an evolution and escalation of militant Chechen tactics.

At the center of the conflict is Shamil Basayev, the last remaining field commander from the beginning of war in 1994. Has he become the face of Chechen separatism, of Islamic radicalization in Chechnya, or both? Will his voice dominate following the recent death of the more moderate rebel leader, Aslan Maskhadov, at the hands of Russian commandos?

Chechnya: Separatism or Jihad? explores the larger question of whether or not the Chechen independence movement has been hijacked by militant Islam.