Chechnya: From Past to Future by Richard SakwaReview by: P. LentiniThe Slavonic and East European Review, Vol. 84, No. 3 (Jul., 2006), pp. 581-582Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4214350 .

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REVIEWS 58I

a welcome window onto the complex dynamics of electoral politics in Albania and Macedonia.

Department of Government SARAH BIRCH

University of Essex

Sakwa, Richard (ed.). Chechnya: From Past to Future. Anthem Russian and Slavonic Studies. Anthem Press, London, 2005. XViii + 300 PP. Maps. Notes. Appendices. Further reading. ?I2.99: $25.00 (paperback).

RIcHARD SAKwA's edited collection is the first to contain Chechen, Russian and Western-based scholars', diplomats' and journalists' perspectives on the origins, conduct and significance of the wars in Chechnya, and their impact on contemporary Russian and Chechen politics and society. It includes contri- butions from individuals who actively conduct fieldwork in the area (Robert Bruce Ware, Thomas de Waal), have participated in government decision- making and the peace-making processes (Valery Tishkov, Emil Pain, Lord Frank Judd), human-rights activism (Alexander Cherkasov and Dmitry Grushkin of Memorial), and are members of the Chechen intelligentsia (Dzhabrail Gakaev), as well as outstanding scholars from their disciplines. From Sakwa's masterful 'Introduction' fusing international relations, interna- tional law, history and politics to Lord Judd's rather pessimistic 'Afterword', this is an outstanding, engaging contribution to our knowledge of Chechnya and the Chechen conflict. This multi-faced study of the Chechen conflict deserves to be read widely. Chechnya: From Past to Future complements Tishkov's Chechnya: Life in a War-Torn Societ, (reviewed in SEER, 83, 2005, 3, pp. 54647).

Some of the book's key themes are worth highlighting. Several contributors view the conflict as an exercise in political opportunism, on both the Russian and Chechen sides. This stems from attempts to usurp the post-August I99I coup power vacuum in Chechnya and intra-elite power struggles in the first war (Gakaev), a 'failure of the proxy insurgency' that the El'tsin administration experienced in late 1994 (de Waal, p. i68), a means 'to enhance the political standing of the federal executive authorities' (Cherkasov and Grushkin, p. I32),

and Islamists and criminals taking advantage of the Maskhadov regime's inabilities and reluctance to establish order during I997-99 (Ware). The au- thors also address the thorny issue of how to classify the conflict. Gakaev views it as 'a struggle between mafia-political clans' (p. 26). Mike Bowker examines how Western governments have insisted that Russia has acted to defend its territorial integrity, while the media posit that the Chechens were exercising their rights for national sovereignty. Ware's contribution radically challenges the Western media's interpretation, by pointing out that in both wars Chechnya was at least a de facto independent state. Chechens, therefore, did not need to fight for independence. Shearman and Sussex discuss the conflict within the context of the 'new wars' paradigm. Their conclusion is that this approach is not applicable in the Chechen circumstances. The war, its actors and potential solutions are concerned with issues of power and purpose, all of which represent 'the modern', not the 'post-modern'.

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582 SEER, 84, 3, JULY 2006

Issues of modernization are also significant in the authors' attempts to understand the situation in Chechnya. Tishkov posits that Chechnya is in a process of de-modernization which has resulted in 'chaotic changes in which the very concept of society is swept away' (p. I70). Sakwa (pp. 6-7) and Gakaev (p. 23) acknowledge that Chechnya has been and continues to be impeded by the lack of a native Chechen intelligentsia and technocracy. These factors, plus economic and social destruction, may greatly hamper post-conflict reconstruction.

In addition to examining the sources of conflict, the book also addresses aspects of political communication, the peace process and negotiations. For Mikhailov, the ability to negotiate properly with the centre enabled Tatarstan to extract greater political concessions in the post-Soviet political order than their fellow Muslims in Chechnya. This has benefited the former. Both Pain and Baev note that various disconnections exist between the political and military establishment. Russell, Hughes andJudd are all highly critical of the Putin administration's lack of willingness to negotiate, and suggest that this has sustained violence in the region.

Although the volume is enriched by its authors' diversity, it lacks one important set of perspectives - women's. This is indeed significant as one of Russia's leading agents of civil society, the Soldiers' Mothers Committee emerged in response to the Chechen war. Additionally, both Russian and Chechen women have made considerable sacrifices during the war. They have been the victims of war crimes as well as the perpetrators of terrorism.

The inclusion of the Khasavyurt Agreement and the Russian-Chechen Peace Treaty is indeed valuable for students and researchers alike. However, given the diverse viewpoints and subject matter the volume would have been much more user-friendly with an index.

School of Political and Social Inquiry P. LENTINI

Monash Universip

Ro'i, Yaacov (ed.). Democragy and Pluralism in Muslim Eurasia. The Cummings Center Series, I9. Frank Cass, London and New York, 2004. xiv + 403 pp. Glossary. Tables. Notes. Index. ?65.00.

Jonson, Lena. Vladimir Putin and CentralAsia. Culture and Society in Western and Central Asia, i. I. B Tauris, London and New York, 2004. xii + 256 pp. Maps. Notes. Selected bibliography. Index. ?45.00.

THE correlation of Islam and democracy has been a topic of debate amongst academics since the disintegration of the USSR, and even more so since the beginning of the 'war on terror'. This volume focuses on the evolution of democracy amongst the Muslim populations of the Commonwealth of Inde- pendent States (CIS). The first part of the volume looks at the history of the areas in concern, and their Islamic and democratic characteristics. The second part of the volume assesses the impact of internal and external influences after independence. Although the issues and topics tackled in this volume generally give a clear analysis of the state of democracy and Islam in the areas studied,

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