Chechnya and the Zikr

With Chechnya back atop the news, Microkhan wanted to take a moment to delve into the country’s rich-yet-brutal history. Much of what we know comes from the excellent 1998 book Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus. It’s dated, of course, since it stops well short of Russia’s comeback and the installation of a murderous, Kremlin-friendly regime. But it provides historical context for the conflict, and does a fine job of illustrating why so many Chechens resist any sort of Russian national identity.