CIAO DATE: 11/98

The Caucasus and the Caspian: 1996–1998 Seminar Series
Volume III

Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project
John F. Kennedy School of Government
March 1998

Preface

The materials in this publication have been generated by the Strengthening Democratic Institutions Project’s (SDI’s) 1996–1998 seminar series on the “Caucasus and the Caspian” at the Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, which was convened as a follow-up to the Project’s 1995 report on conflict in the North Caucasus region: Russia’s Tinderbox: Conflict in the North Caucasus and its Implications for the Future of the Russian Federation.

The purpose of the seminars is to explore broader strategic issues in the Caucasus and the Caspian basin, including: the war in Chechnya; the ongoing conflicts in Georgia, Nagorno–Karabakh, and North Ossetia–Ingushetia; the role of the Russian military; oil and pipeline politics in the Caspian; Russia’s relations with Turkey, Iran and other regional powers; and increasing US engagement in the region. The seminar series is Chaired by SDI Associate Director Fiona Hill.

This volume contains transcripts from the third series in which SDI convened three seminars on the war in Chechnya dealing with the regional perspective, the view from the West, and reactions inside Russia itself. The first of these took place on March 6, 1998 with Rousbek Bisoultanov, the former Minister of Agriculture of Chechnya, and Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov, the Ambassador-at-Large for the neighboring Republic of Dagestan. They discussed the impact of the war in Chechnya on the region and the prospects for the North Caucasus in its aftermath. Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov was highly critical of Chechnya’s conduct of relations with Dagestan and other neighboring republics, and predicted increased instability in the region.

The second seminar on April 15, 1998 was a preview of a new book on the war, Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus, by two British journalists, Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal, respectively with the Financial Times and the BBC. The two authors had covered the war as correspondents with the Russian-based English-language newspaper, the Moscow Times. During the seminar, the authors offered first hand impressions of the conflict in addition to an analysis of its causes and outcome.

The third and final seminar on Chechnya, on July 10, 1998, took the form of a roundtable discussion with members of SDI’s Caucasus and Caspian Working Group and Vladimir Boxer, former political Advisor to Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar and a Fellow with the SDI Project for 1997–98. In December 1995, Dr. Boxer was one of the campaign managers for Gaidar’s political party, Democratic Choice of Russia, ongoing conflicts in Georgia, Nagorn in the Russian parliamentary elections, and produced a short film for TV about the war in Chechnya to draw attention to the violations of human rights in the conflict. The seminar focused on the content and purpose of the film—“Between Heaven and Earth”—Dr. Boxer’s attempts to broadcast it during the election campaign, the general reaction among Russian politicians and the electorate to the war, and the impact of the war itself on both the 1995 parliamentary and 1996 presidential elections in Russia.

Copies of the first two volumes of materials from the seminar series, and the 1995 report, are available on the SDI website at http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/bcsia/sdi or can be obtained in hardcopy by contacting Elena Kostritsyna at elena_kostritsyna@harvard.edu, fax: (617) 496–8779.

Harvard’s Strengthening Democratic Institution’s Project works to catalyze and provide support for three historic transformations taking place in Russia and the other republics of the former Soviet Union: to sustainable democracies, free market economies and cooperative international relations. The Project is a private, non-profit research initiative funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and other organizations. Views expressed by individuals associated with the Project represent their own professional judgments and are not offered on behalf of any governments or other institutions.

 

Table of Contents

Map 1: Chechnya and Ingushetia
Map 2: The Caucasus Region
I.	The Aftermath of the War in Chechnya: What Next for the North Caucasus? Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov and Rousbek Bisoultanov
II.	Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus Carlotta Gall and Thomas DeWaal
III.	III. Between Heaven and Earth: Human Rights and Politics in the Chechen War Vladimir Boxer

 

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Map 1: Chechnya and Ingushetia

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Map 2: The Caucasus Region