Interwar Chechnya (1996-1999), Wahhabism and the Roots of the Dagestani Invasion

Abstract

This study analyses the causes of the fall of the Chechen state after its de
facto independence (1996-1999) following the so-called First RussianChechen War (1994-1996). The failed incursion of the (predominantly
Wahhabi) Chechen-Dagestani guerillas in Dagestan (August 1999), designed
to inflame a regional rebellion against Russia, resulted in the current
Second Russian-Chechen War. The Chechen state's failure was mainly
caused by internal factors, primarily the 'clanish' division of Chechen society
and customary legal norms (e.g. blood feuds), but also the spread of
political Islam and the expansion of North Caucasian Wahhabism.
Considering recent attempts to extend the conflict over Chechnya's
borders, this field continues to be of immense import. In Dagestan,
Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and elsewhere, processes similar to those
being studied may be better understood following this study.