Chechnya : the case for independence

Since the end of the Cold War, Chechnya has suffered two full-scale Russian military assaults, and is now in the seventh year of a brutal occupation.

The casualties remain largely uncounted, and the fundamental issues at stake are routinely sidestepped in Russia and in the West.

In this powerful argument for Chechen self-determination, Tony Wood considers Russo-Chechen relations over the past century and a half, as well as the fate of the region since the fall of the Soviet Union. "The Case for Chechnya" sharply criticizes the role of Western nations in their struggle, and lays bare the weakness - and shamefulness - of the arguments used to deny the Chechens' right to sovereignty.