Terrorists, bandits, spooks and thieves: Russian demonisation of the Chechens before and since 9/11.

Abstract

The Russo-Chechen conflict, arguably the bloodiest confrontation in Europe since World War II, only attracts the attention of the Western media when the Chechens stage terrorist `spectaculars¿ such as the `Nord-Ost¿ or Beslan school sieges. Putin¿s uncompromisingly tough line against the Chechens is popular among an ethnic Russian electorate traumatised since its own `Black September¿ in 1999. Since 9/11 this conflict has been presented almost exclusively as Russia¿s frontline in the international `war on terrorism¿. All Chechens who oppose Putin¿s policies in Chechnya are dismissed as `terrorists¿ and `bandits¿. Yet a satisfactory political resolution of the conflict seems far off; thousands of Chechen civilians continue to suffer and die. Russia¿s attempt at `Chechenisation¿ of the conflict appears to have achieved its `Palestinisation¿. How far has the policy of demonising the Chechens, which helped Yeltsin and Putin to launch their respective wars, become a major obstacle to peace in Chechnya?