What the Second Chechen War tells us about Russia’s ‘War on Terror’ today

In the wake of the recent terrorist attacks claimed by IS in Beirut and Paris, Russia reiterated the counter-terrorist rhetoric it has been using to justify its intervention in Syria. That rhetoric echoes claims Russia made during the Second Chechen War, when it conflated Chechen fighters with international Islamist terrorists. At the time, Russia hoped its ‘war on terror’ would eventually yield strategic gains in the Russian-US relationship – to no avail. Its current counterterrorist ...