Hi, I'm looking for information on the Chechen War. Specifically, I'm
looking for information on: A historical background on the Islamic
revolution in Chechnya, the goals of the militants, and how much of an
affect have outside Islamic revolutionaries played a role in the war
in Chechnya. Also I'm looking for what steps Putin has taken to win
the war and how he plans on trying to keep the peace, why is Russia so
keen on keeping Chechnya (economically and principally), and more
specifically why is Putin so keen on keeping Russia (political
reasons).

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Clarification of Question by isaact-ga on 18 Nov 2005 09:20 PST

"why is Putin so keen on keeping Russia (political
reasons)." LOL, my mistake I meant Chechnya :P

If one renames the USSR as 'The Russian Empire' then one has a fair
idea of what is going on.

Chechenya just happens to be a natural border area
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/commonwealth/chechnya_rel01.jpg

Note the mountain range and what happens when it starts.

Who knows what the militants want - my guess is anything they can get

Chechenya, like a lot of other 'natural borders' was heavily settled
by Russians, which makes it a bit more easy to retain some sort of
control of the natural banditry of the area.

I imagine that Putin is pretty keen on keeping Russia because that is
where he and most non expatriate Russians live - they have a wealthy
future from the wastes of Siberia and a clear path through
'Westernized' Eastern Europe all of whom will be grateful for the
bilateral trade.

Put crudely, 'Russia proper' has the EC by its b*lls, both as provider
of raw materials - and as sentinel at the gate.
As an added bonus, they have access to the Far East, so they can play
one off against the other.

My take is that Chechenya is a natural place to build a Hadrian's wall
- Russia learnt a lot in Afghanistan
- they are unlikely to make the same mistake twice