Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power

by Anatol Lieven

Book Overview

The war between Russia and the Chechen separatist forces, from December 1994 to August 1996, was a key moment in Russian and even world history, shedding a stark light on the end of Russia as a great military and imperial power. Anatol Lieven, a distinguished writer and political commentator, was a correspondent for the London Times in the former Soviet Union from 1990 to 1996 and was commended for his coverage of the Chechen War by the British Press Association.

In this major new work of history and analysis, Lieven sets Russia's humiliation at the hands of a tiny group of badly organized guerrillas in a plausible framework for the first time. He offers both a riveting eyewitness account of the war itself and a sophisticated and multifaceted explanation for the Russian defeat. Highlighting the numerous ways in which Russian society and culture differ today from the simplistic stereotypes still current in much of Western analysis, he explores the reasons for the current weakness of Russian nationalism both within the country and among the Russian diaspora.

In the final part of the book Lieven examines the Chechen tradition, providing the first in-depth anthropological portrait in English of this extraordinary fighting people. In his representation of the character of the Chechen nation, Lieven contributes to the continuing debate between "constructivist" and "primordialist" theories of the origins of nationalism and examines the role of both historical experience and religion in the formation of national identity.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300078811
• ISBN13: 9780300078817
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Simply essential reading

This book is one of the most important works for those who read, write and think about any of the following:Capitalism;RMA Issues;Nation-States;Revolutions;Post-Soviet Society;Islam;Tribal Society;East-West Divisions;The Rule of Law;War;and Human Rights.There is very little that this book does not at some point find a way to address. That is my only real problem with the text: Like its author, it has a way of involving many different ideas that may, or may not, actually hold together to make a compelling argument. However, unlike other authors' attempts to weave this kind of tapestry, this book succeeds more often that it confounds. I think it is the first book I have read that accurately captured just what was going on in Chechnya in terms of what had happened in Moscow. This is more than a typical piece of modern war-correspondent work. This is an author who understands both sides of the conflict, and not only in terms of the tactical and strategic pictures. More than a blow-by-blow account of Russian brutality (which it contains as well), it moves beyond the normal, facile explanations of Russian behavior in the Caucasus. Would the normal view of an expansionist Russian still account for the ways in which the first Chechen campaign was conducted? Only partly, and it would be wholly unsatisfying to stop there. To answer this question requires a deeper understanding of modern Russia than you would get from the traditional explanations coming from Conquest et. al. What Lieven has done here is to capture more than the status on the ground. He has achieved the first real and complex portrait of the Russia of Boris Yeltsin, the Russian army in its post-Soviet incarnation, and one of the best examples of the kind of analysis that needs to be done on modern armies who must confront ancient societies.

Heidi Bradner is a rising star in Photography

Artist like Heidi Bradner come along once in a blue moon. She manages to capture her subjects in just raw simplicity that screams of pure, and unadulterated talent. She is someone who'se work should be observed very closely, for her work is a marvel to behold.

excellent and fascinating

Reading this book was like being on a rollercoaster of Russia's descent into oblivion, a descent that is far from over. It provided amazing insights into the degeneracy of this once-great nation - a story that few appreciate. This book will help you understand and appreciate it.

Excellent and readable

This is a very thorough and balanced account of the Russian invasion of Chechnya. Mr Lieven should be congratulated for writing this book. Highly recommended

A very thorough analysis of the Russian defeat in Chechnya

Lieven gives a vivid account from the front line in Chechnya during the recent war. He spoke to the main protagonists on both sides and also to the common soldiers or fighters. He offers many lively examples of Russian incompetence and corruption and writes admiringly but not uncritically about the courage and tenacity of the Chechens who fought this once mighty military force. Lieven also analyses thoroughly the broader military and political reasons for the Russian defeat and traces its causes to the general state of political decay in present day Russia. He offers the historical background of the very troubled Russian-Chechen relationship. He draws many interesting parallels with other political systems where corrupt and incompetent leaders have remained in power over longer periods of time e.g. in certain Latin American countries. Lieven writes critically about western analysts such as the historian Richard Pipes who still tend to regard Russia as an inherently expansionist power. Military expansion, in his view, is simply not on the agenda for a very long time, if only due to the very sorry state of the Russian military and of politics generally. A very insightful book, very rewarding.