Skip to main content
  • Book
  • © 2010

The Chechen Struggle

Independence Won and Lost

Palgrave Macmillan

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.

Table of contents (12 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xv
  2. The War Begins

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 1-24
  3. Joining Maskhadov’s General Staff

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 25-39
  4. Raid on Budennovsk: Basayev Forces Peace

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 41-61
  5. Maskhadov is Elected President

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 63-76
  6. Maskhadov’s Impossible Quandary

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 77-100
  7. The Hostage Trade

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 101-120
  8. Crisis Within Chechen Society

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 121-149
  9. Incursions into Dagestan: War Resumes

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 151-171
  10. The Chechen Resistance Splinters

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 173-192
  11. My Tenure as Foreign Minister

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 193-220
  12. The Killing of Maskhadov

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 221-234
  13. The North Caucasus Emirate and Beyond

    • Ilyas Akhmadov, Miriam Lanskoy
    Pages 235-247
  14. Back Matter

    Pages 249-271

About this book

Told from the perspective of its former Foreign minister, this is a uniquely candid account of Chechnya's struggle for independence and its two wars against Russia which will revise our understanding of the conflict and explain how it continues. Features new insights, intimate portraits of key personalities and a foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Reviews

"Akhmadov feels disgusted by both Ramzan Kadyrov's rule and the jihadists who hijacked the independence movement. He nurses a vision of the Chechen people one day resurrecting the idea that animated their initial revolt in 1994: the establishment of Chechnya as a secular, democratic state." - The Wall Street Journal

"Akhmadov does not avoid . . .pointing out how (Chechens) contributed to their own national catastrophe. But he saves much of his bitterness for the west. The desires of the Chechens were meaningless when compared to our own security needs. Akhmadov forcefully argues that, in ignoring the legitimate desires of ordinary people, the democracies undermine the very safety they think they are securing...when historians write about the war on terror, Akhmadov will come out of it a lot better than a lot of western politicians will." - The Guardian

"A personal and a historical account of the Chechen struggle . . ..informative and highly readable . . .Recommended." - Choice

"Ilyas Akhmadov's memoir is the first personal account by a member of the Chechen leadership of the events that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Chechens and the transformation of Russia. He gives the best description I have seen of the fateful 1999 invasion of Dagestan that led to the Second Chechen War and he provides objective and fair minded portraits of the two most important Chechen leaders, Aslan Maskhadov and Shamil Basayev. He also shows the roots of the divisions in Chechen society and explains the background to the kidnapping for ransom that did so much to damage the reputation of the Chechens. His book needs to be read." - David Satter, Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State

"The publication of The Chechen Struggle is an event of singular importance. As Chechnya s former Foreign Minister, Akhmadov ably shows that there was always a moderate alternative to Chechen extremism - and that Russia has systematically destroyed it. This is Akhmadov s urgent message, and as the Chechen conflict spreads to the other republics of the North Caucasus, further emboldening Russia s autocrats, it is one the world can no longer afford to ignore." - Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy

About the authors

ILYAS AKHMADOV was the Foreign Minister of Chechnya during the second war with Russia where he represented the legitimately elected government of Aslan Maskhadov. He authored a peace plan, launched a negotiations process, and sought to bring attention to the tragic fate of his nation through a variety of international forums. His work has appeared in The Washington Post and in The Boston Globe.

MIRIAM LANSKOY works at the National Endowment for Democracy on programs in Eurasia.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access