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research assistant, university

Education. Expérience. Education Master's degree Experience Experience an asset Durée de l'emploi. Temporaire Langue de travail. Anglais Heures de travail. 40 hours per week..

Entry-Level Research Assistant (Remote)

You have two options when it comes to paid research positions. you can either work in person locally.. Participate in research focus groups. Each panel receives a complete written study. If products or..

Research Nurse (Term)

Nine Circles Community Health Centre Is currently hiring for. Research Nurse (Term) 0.6 EFT (23.25 hours.. The Nine Circles Research Nurse participates in the Syphilis Point of Care test research project, funded..

Senior Research Advisor

Senior Research Advisor. ( 240002WH ) Description Grow with the best. Join a smart, creative, and.. Your Opportunity As the Senior Research Advisor on Stantec's Research and Innovation Services team, you..

analyst - market research

Conduct and analyze quantitative and qualitative research projects Ensure appropriate business commercial licenses are in place Develop and implement business plans Computer and technology..

Research Manager

JOB TITLE RESEARCH ASSOCIATEPOSTING. 24 17 001NATIONAL OCCUPATION CODE 41404POSITION TYPE FULL TIMEJob.. Develop, plan, and implement research projects that align with the MMF's strategic and cabinet..

research technician, life sciences

Durée de l'emploi. Permanent Langue de travail. Anglais Heures de travail. 1820 hours per year Education. Expérience. Education Bachelor's degree Molecular biology Molecular geneti..

Research Analyst - Global Equities

Job Description Equity and industry research (40 ) Monitoring current businesses held within of Pools and Mandates. Includes monitoring news flow and generating earnings reports within the..

Legal Assistant

Are you ever wondering "What else is out there?" Are you currently looking for an opportunity to expand your current skillset and achieve your career goals as a legal assistant ? Randstad..

Remote Market Research Panel - Call Center Agent Welcome -No Experience

Position. Remote Market Research Panel Call Center Agent Welcome (Part Time. Full Time) No Experience.. For most of our paid market research tasks you can choose to participate either remotely or in person..

Senior Actuarial Consultant (Pricing Research & Development)

Job OverviewWawanesa is looking for an exceptional candidate to take on the role of Senior Actuarial Consultant in our expanding Pricing Research and Development team. As a member of Pricing..

Assistant Manager

Overview You can't think of anywhere else you'd rather be. You enjoy coaching and teaching your team to continually improve how they deliver a great in store Customer Experience, a..

administrative assistant

Education. Expérience. Education College CEGEP Tasks Arrange and co ordinate seminars, conferences, etc. Record and prepare minutes of meetings, seminars and conferences Determine ..

Education. Expérience. Education College CEGEP Tasks Record and prepare minutes of meetings, seminars and conferences Determine and establish office procedures and routines Schedul..

Education. Expérience. Education Secondary (high) school graduation certificate Tasks Answer telephone and relay telephone calls and messages Answer electronic enquiries Perform da..

Education. Expérience. Education Secondary (high) school graduation certificate Tasks Arrange and co ordinate seminars, conferences, etc. Coordinate the flow of information within ..

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University of Manitoba

University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada, R3T 2N2

Research Associate opportunities

The below ad runs from May 1 to October 31, 2024.  Successful candidates must hold a doctoral degree or have equivalent qualifications and experience. Minimum starting salary is $50,000 per annum, plus a full range of staff benefits. Application Process: Applicants are to submit a curriculum vitae and names of references to the contact listed under each chosen field. Applicants will be contacted if their CV matches the department's requirements. Application materials, including letters of reference, will be handled in accordance with the protection of privacy provisions of The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba). Please note that curriculum vitaes may be provided to participating members of the search process. The University of Manitoba is committed to the principles of equity, diversity & inclusion and to promoting opportunities in hiring, promotion and tenure (where applicable) for systemically marginalized groups who have been excluded from full participation at the University and the larger community including Indigenous Peoples, women, racialized persons, persons with disabilities and those who identify as 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, questioning, intersex, asexual and other diverse sexual identities). All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority. If you require accommodation supports during the recruitment process, please contact [email protected] or 204-474-7195. Please note this contact information is for accommodation reasons only.

Biosystems Engineering

Stored grain ecosystems, smart technologies for food processing, biological treatment of wastes, biological production of biofuels and bioproducts, remediation of contaminated soils & groundwater, instrumentation for soil & water monitoring, management of environmental odours, airborne disease transmission, bio-processing, infrared spectroscopy & electromagnetic imaging, animal and plant production environment, agricultural machinery systems, alternative building systems, surface engineering of polymeric materials, development of natural textile fibres, and tissue engineering.

Apply directly to Mandy Tanner

Electrochemistry, materials characterization with x-ray and electron probe techniques, photoelectrochemical energy conversion, conducting polymers, environmental chemistry, environmental analytical chemistry, instrumental mass spectrometry, metallomics, inorganic chemistry, organometallic chemistry/homogeneous catalysis, computational chemistry, scanning probe microscopy, conducting polymer electronics, systems micro-electronic materials and devices, nanotechnology, liquid crystals and liquid crystal nanocomposites, nanoparticle synthesis and characterization, solid-state NMR of inorganic materials, natural products chemistry, polyketide biosynthesis, vibrational spectroscopy and spectromicroscopy, protein purification, protein and RNA biochemistry, structural biology, cell signaling, cell biology, biochemistry and molecular biology, systems biology, infrared and Raman microscopy of biological samples and polymers, drug design synthesis and in vitro and in vivo testing, organic chemistry, organic synthesis, development of novel antimicrobials, peptidomimetics, glycotherapeutics, medicinal chemistry, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), transmission cryoelectron microscopy, X-ray diffraction of proteins, protein NMR, solid state chemistry, magnetism, crystallography and diffraction, intermetallics, crystal growth, machine learning. The position requires candidates with graduate degree or higher.

Apply directly to the Chemistry Department

Community Health Sciences

Aging, applied statistics, arts-based health research, biostatistics, cancer, cancer epidemiology, child injury prevention, community-based and partnership based research, cultural safety, database development, data science, environment and health, epidemiology, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, First Nations/Métis/Inuit health and well-being, global health, health care delivery systems, health disparities, health economics, health policy, health services research, Indigenous studies, infection/ inflammation, knowledge synthesis, knowledge transfer, knowledge translation, machine learning, maternal and child health, mathematical modeling, mental health, military, veteran and family health, natural language processing, pharmaco-epidemiology, population health, program evaluation, psychiatric epidemiology, public health, qualitative health research, quality of care, quantitative social sciences, research project management, risk communication, rural and remote health service delivery research, social and behaviour sciences, social and indigenous determinants of health, spatial epidemiology/statistics, statistical and machine learning with applications in public or population health, strength-based research, trauma and resilience in children, vaccine epidemiology, vaccine hesitancy and vaccine safety and effectiveness.

Apply directly to Shannon Turczak

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sensors and actuators; biosensors; computational electromagnetics; microfluidics for biomaterial analysis; conducting polymer devices; biomedical imaging; electromagnetic inverse problems. Electromagnetic compatibility; design, simulation, and fabrication of MRI cables; radio resource management in femtocell networks; cognitive femtocell networks; power control in wireless networks. RF circuit design; microwave and mm-wave test; RFID system design; RF printed electronics; microwave systems; transmission line modeling. Photonics; biophotonics; solid-state lasers; laser spectroscopy and microscopy; nonlinear optics; optical coherence tomography. High voltage engineering; condition monitoring in high voltage engineering; energy harvesting in high voltage systems; numerical simulation of high voltage transformers. Power system protection, and electrical power distribution and distributed generation. Biomicrofluidics; single cell electronic analysis. Biological signal analysis, and biomedical instrumentation. Biomedical engineering; biological signals acquisition and analysis, particularly Electrovestibulography, EEG, EMG and respiratory sounds; multimodal brain imaging. Civil structural health monitoring, wireless sensing systems. Stochastic modeling of communication systems; Markov chains, queueing theory, stochastic ordering of queueing systems; matrix-analytic methods, call admission control; capacity analysis of CDMA systems; tail probabilities, channel coding, LDPC code; Gilbert-Elliot Markov channel modeling. 6G and beyond cellular networks (spectrum/resource management, coexistence, distributed wireless access, scheduling, power control, network selection, fronthauling/backhauling, cloud-RAN, massive MIMO, cell-free large MIMO, mobility/handoff management); reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. IoT; embedded systems; artificial intelligence applied to imaging and other systems; deep learning; high-performance computing; modeling and prototyping of power-electronic converters, advanced methods for modeling of switching power converters.

Apply directly to Electrical and Computer Engineering

Insect ecology in agricultural landscapes; ecosystem services, biodiversity, and landscape structure; insect dispersal; predator-prey interactions; trophic and guild interactions in multi-species assemblages; bottom-up and top-down regulation; trophic cascades; biological control; sustainable management of agricultural pests, aphid ecology; wheat midge, plant resistance, mechanisms of plant resistance against insect pests; pest management; ladybeetle ecology; natural enemy ecology; predator ecology; beneficial insects; sampling of pest populations; sampling of natural enemy populations; sampling of insects; cereal leaf beetle; parasitoid ecology; classical biological control; landscape ecology; crop protection; soybean aphid management; aphid ecology (A.C. Costamagna); Wild bees, taxonomy, phylogenomics, pollinator ecology, systematics, social evolution (J. Gibbs); Geographic distribution of disease vectors, arthropod-host interactions, livestock pest management, emerging and re-emerging arthropod-borne diseases (K. Rochon). Agroecology, beneficial insect ecology, community ecology, diversity-ecological function trends, insect behaviour, landscape characterization and conservation, palynology, pollination ecology, pollen limitation, pollinator nutrition (K. Bobiwash).

Apply directly to Erika Hart

Immunology, Faculty of Medicine

Immunobiology of infectious disease; chronic inflammation; autoimmunity; rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease; leukemia, lymphoma, breast cancer, cancer immunotherapy; natural killer cell and natural killer T cells; dendritic cells; induction of transplantation tolerance; molecular signalling mechanisms; B lymphocyte biology; antibodies; T lymphocyte differentiation and function; neutrophils and allergic immune responses; regulation and function of Fc receptors; cytokines and cytokine receptors; host defence peptides; immune responses to parasites; Leishmania; Trypannosomes; cell therapy; bone marrow transplantation; mucosal immunity; animal models of chronic disease, immune deficiency and infection, vaccination strategies; bacterial infection, chlamydia; immune regulation; allergy; airway inflammation; neuroimmunology; pathogenesis of HIV infection; live-cell imaging host-pathogen interactions, immune cell migration, flow cytometry; immunophenotyping; immune biomarkers; lentiviral-based gene therapy; proteomics; systems biology. 

Apply to Silvia Panameno

Or directly contact faculty members: https://umanitoba.ca/medicine/immunology/faculty-staff#faculty

IN•GAUGE, College of Nursing

Dr. Roberta L. Woodgate invites applications for the full-time position of Research Associate at the College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg (Canada). Dr. Woodgate holds a Tier 1 Canadian Research Chair (CRC) in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare .  Her research program, IN•GAUGE , represents her dynamic approach to involve children and youth and their families and interact with clinicians, caregivers, researchers, and decision-makers in the research process, and to be innovative in the exchange of knowledge.   Dr. Woodgate works with children (includes youth) and their families across a wide range of health conditions as well as diverse communities. Dr. Woodgate embraces a human rights-based approach that views the highest attainable standard of health as a fundamental human right and promotes children’s right to participate and freely express their opinions and experiences, in accordance with their evolving capacities. Dr. Woodgate aims to improve child and family engagement in health research by studying it in a systematic manner how best to engage vulnerable children and youth and their families in health research. Dr. Woodgate’s work is important as improving child health outcomes depends on research that fully understands the experiences of vulnerable children and youth with under-researched health needs and their families  in health research.

The successful candidate will hold a PhD in a health related or social science discipline and have related training and experience in the fields of child/youth health research and qualitative research. The successful applicant will should be familiar with variety of research methodologies (for example qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, arts-based and/or systematic review methodologies). The successful candidate must be able to work independently and collaboratively on Dr. Woodgate’s research projects. Familiarity and experience in writing research grants and conducting systematic reviews would be an asset. Demonstrated record in writing including peer reviewed publications and previous experience in research project coordination is required. 

The successful candidate will demonstrate the ability to:

• Critical appraises and synthesizes health literature.
• Prepare and manage ethics review and study access application submission; as well, complete study amendments as necessary and yearly renewals.
• Responsible for the smooth and efficient day-to-day operation of multiple research studies. 
• Monitor and document the progress of project activities from inception to completion and setting up structures for managing multiple projects. 
• Conduct research activities requiring a high level of autonomy including detailed operational preparation of research projects, collecting and analyzing qualitative and quantitative data, and producing research reports, publications and presentations. 
• Co-author and/or assist in the in writing scholarly publications and grant proposals.
• Provide updates and progress reports to Dr. Roberta Woodgate, other members of the research team and stakeholders. 
• Participate in research team meetings. Acting as liaison, communicates and maintains research links with key stakeholders, decision-makers, research partners, and hospitals and community agencies.
• Provide training and support to graduate students and other research staff hired on the project.

Apply to Roberta Woodgate

Mechanical Engineering

Field of Research: finite element method, adaptive algorithms in FEM, structural analysis with FEM, meshless methods, general finite difference method, quantitative nondestructive evaluation with computational inverse methods;  multiaxial fatigue, fracture mechanics, elasticity, plasticity, composite materials, nano-mechanics,  mechanics of materials, nonlinear dynamics, legged locomotion robotics, biomechanics, computer assisted industrial engineering, computer integrated manufacturing, robotics, integrated CAD,CAPP,CAM systems, reverse engineering, system modeling and simulation, manufacturing process, forming and joining of metals, mechanical properties and repair of gas turbine alloys, teleoperation and robotics, control systems, actuators and fluid power, fracture mechanisms and mechanics, fatigue, acoustic emission, polymers, dislocation theory, corrosion, microstructure-mechanical properties of materials, numerical modeling and simulation of materials processing, aerospace materials, polymer and composite processing, composite joining and bonding, thermomechanical processing and microstructural characterization of metallic alloys, processing-microstructure-property relationship studies in nanostructured materials and process development optimization and physical metallurgy of joining of aerospace alloys, alternative energy and modeling of biomass energy conversion systems, high velocity kinetic turbines, icing of wind turbines, droplet and spray vaporization and combustion, turbulent flow, aerospace engineering, acoustic wave propagation, supercritical flow stability, complex flows, industrial multiphase flows, ice accretion measurement, steam condenser modelling, computational fluid dynamics, transport phenomena in porous media, core analysis, two-phase flow in condensers, heat transfer augmentation, experimental fluid dynamics, turbulent flows, laser doppler velocimetry, turbulence modeling, large-eddy simulation, direct numerical simulation, environmental fluid mechanics, transport phenomena, tissue engineering, nanomedicine, biocomposites for implantation, biointerface, gene/stem cell therapy, atomistic modeling and simulations, yielding and plasticity in nanocrystaline materials and metallic glass, diffusivity and mobility of grain boundary, structural health monitoring, structural repair and enhancement, energy harvesting and nano-technology, nanomechanics and computational material science, atomistic modeling and simulations, yielding and plasticity in nanocrystalline materials and metallic glass, diffusivity and mobility of grain boundary. Graduate degree or higher required.

Apply directly to Melissa Alexander

Physics and Astronomy

Ultra high vacuum, cryogenic instruments; scanning tunneling microscopy; ultrafast optical measurements and lasers; high resolution microwave and infrared spectroscopy; experimental condensed matter physics; nano magnetism (nanoparticles and thin-films); x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD); atomic probes of nuclear magnetism;, magnetism in constrained geometries; drug delivery and hyperthermia; nanocomposites; condensed matter theory and statistical physics; theory of chiral magnetic polaritons; mathematical physics; strongly correlated quantum systems; spin chains and quantum wires; non-equilibrium dynamics of ultra cold atomic gases; computational modeling of point defects in insulators; graphene-structured systems; atomic and molecular physics; electronic properties of nanostructures; spin transport in quantum systems; electron conduction in the DNA; spintronics; precision atomic mass measurements on stable and unstable nuclides using ion traps; beta-neutrino and beta-delayed neutron correlation measurements in the decay of trapped ions; time-of-flight mass spectrometry of biomolecules, experimental subatomic physics, lasers; laser trapping and cooling; ion trapping and cooling; radioactive beams; subatomic physics theory; high-energy astrophysics;  compact objects, pulsar wind nebulae and supernova remnants; gravitational wave and multi-messenger astrophysics; clusters of galaxies; active galactic nuclei; detection systems and signal processing for medical imaging applications; biological physics; microfluidics; medical physics; Ultrafast magnetism; THz spectroscopy; cavity spintronics and cavity magnonics; ultrasonic spectroscopy and wave physics of complex materials; lab-on-chip and point-of-care diagnosis.

Apply directly to Milijana Prstojevic

The overarching aim of Health Information Exchange Laboratory (https://healthinfoexchangelab.ca/) work is to understand the unique health-related needs of population groups, ascertain gaps in information and services, and work with groups to create information, resources, and services that will meet their targeted needs. We draw on a range of research methodologies in our work, including qualitative, quantitative, epidemiological, mixed-methods, website evaluation, intervention science, and integration of physiological measurements. Our work is funded by CIHR, SSHRC, CHRIM, Riverview Health Centre, and the University of Manitoba. We are hiring a research associate to join our vibrant and engaged lab, to collaborate in projects focused on key populations including people who are pregnant and postpartum, adults 55+, and healthcare providers working with perinatal people and/or adults 55+. Responsibilities include collaboration in literature synthesis, data collection, data analysis, manuscript write-up, review ethics board submissions, grant application development and submission, and knowledge translation initiatives, in partnership with the lab Director, members, and partners.

Apply directly to Dr. Kristin Reynolds

Soil Science

Department of Soil Science University of Manitoba Winnipeg  R3T 2N2 [email protected]

Field(s) of research agricultural nutrient management and optimization, agronomic biofortification of food crops with micronutrients, nutrient dynamics, loading, transport and export from agricultural land, root-soil-microbe interactions in rhizosphere, dynamics of greenhouse gas exchange, life-cycle analysis in agriculture, pesticide fate monitoring, modelling and contamination risk assessment, soil erosion, redistribution and its impacts, tillage impacts on agriculture and the environment, land use and land management, water management in agricultural watersheds, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal ecology, nematology, management of soilborne diseases, remediation of contaminated land, soil thermal regime, its impact on soil functions, soil moisture regime and its impact on soil strength, trafficability, workability, and compaction, soil structural dynamics and its impact on physical processes modelling of field hydrologic and physical processes, remote sensing (e.g., satellites and UAV) applications in agriculture and environmental monitoring and assessment, decision support tools (DST) using open-source programming languages (e.g., Python), agricultural meteorology and micrometeorology

Research Associate checklist The candidate will:

• synthesize the literature and suggest a plan of action for proposal development to the PI
• be technically competent in their field of study to undertake independent and team research at a world-class level
• evaluate data as it is collected and suggest changes to the direction of the research or the protocols
• be expected to prepare manuscripts and grant applications
• be expected to produce their own research paper in collaboration with other researchers involved in the project
• manage the day-to-day activities of the research project

Apply directly to Department of Soil Science

The First Chechen War: A Blueprint for Destruction

The First Chechen War was a remarkably bloody and brutal conflict from December 1994 – August 1996, sparked by attempts to crush the Chechen independence movement in post-Soviet Russia. The war ended in a humiliating defeat for the Russian Armed Forces, whilst simultaneously devastating Chechnya (Hodgson, 2003). In this small Republic of around 1.05 million people, some 40,000-80,000 were estimated to have been killed, a further 200,000 wounded, with hundreds of thousands more emigrants and refugees (Kramer, 2005). By the war’s end, Chechnya’s population had been reduced to around 700,000 people; its cities, towns and villages had been obliterated, the traumatised civilian population had been subjected to widespread atrocities by both Russian forces and Chechen rebels, and competing armed factions were left to fill the void created by the complete breakdown of social and governmental order (Kramer, 2005).

This article summarises the events of the war, focusing on the Russian use of systematic heavy bombardment and destruction of Chechen settlements. In doing so, it will show how post-Soviet Russian military doctrine incorporated the acceptance of wide-scale indiscriminate destruction and massive civilian casualties in pursuit of Russian objectives. These methods have been further utilised in subsequent Russian military campaigns in the Second Chechen War, the Syrian War and today in Ukraine, across multiple Presidents, and differing levels of democratic accountability and international engagement. This shows that the destruction of Chechnya, far from being the exception, is a regular feature of direct Russian military intervention.

The First Chechen War: A Campaign of Destruction

The Chechen War took place against the backdrop of instability following the collapse of the USSR, in which some of Federal Russia’s ethnic republics, where ethnic Russians were a minority, began to agitate for independence (Malek, 2009). In Chechnya, where lingering resentments remained over the mass deportation of Chechens to Central Asia by the USSR in 1943 and 1944, former Soviet Air Force general Dzhokhar Dudayev seized power and declared the independent Republic of Chechnya in 1991 (Menon & Fuller, 2000). Several years of instability followed, as pro and anti-Dudayev forces fought, many non-ethnic Chechens fled, and Russia launched several limited and unsuccessful attempts to seize back power (Malek, 2009). The Chechen government’s refusal to abide by Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s 29th November 1994 ultimatum, which demanded that all warring factions in Chechnya lay down arms and surrender, led to the order for the Russian military to take back Chechnya by force (Malek, 2009). The First Chechen War began in earnest with an intensive Russian aerial bombing campaign starting on the 1st of December, which quickly eliminated the Chechen Air Force and struck towns and cities across the region (Malek, 2009).

The First Phase of the war saw a Russian force of 25,000 launch a three-pronged invasion of Chechnya on 11th December 1994, with Russian forces expecting to be in the capital Grozny within three days to mark a quick and decisive victory (Malek, 2009). Instead, as the Russian military moved into the unfamiliar mountainous and wooded terrain, it encountered intensive ambushes and tactical retreats by experienced and determined Chechen forces (Seely, 2001). It took until 25th December to reach Grozny, by which time almost 300 Russian armoured vehicles had been lost along with 10% of their deployed helicopters (Quentin, 2003). Most of Grozny’s Chechen population had fled to the countryside where they had family ties, leaving primarily ethnic Russians in the city with nowhere to go (Akhmadov & Lanskoy, 2010). The Russians, still underestimating Chechen forces, proceeded with a disastrous New Year’s Eve offensive on Grozny. This saw confused and disorientated Russian conscripts decimated as they entered the city, with 2000 killed or wounded within the space of only 60 hours and one armoured column losing 105 out of 120 of its vehicles, and some Russian units abandoned in the retreat (Hodgson, 2003). The morale of the shocked Russian forces hit rock bottom (Hodgson, 2003).

With plans for a quick and easy victory frustrated, Russia poured in reinforcements in January 1995, bringing its forces to 40,000 for a renewed assault on Grozny (Seely, 2001). Noting the inferiority of their troops, Russian commanders sought to employ a new strategy of systematically destroying Grozny block-by-block with air and artillery (Seely, 2001). This method hoped to kill as many defenders as possible, whilst destroying urban cover for any demoralised survivors, theoretically allowing Russian infantry and mechanised forces to advance in mopping up operations with minimal casualties. However, after the start of the bombardment on the 4th of January, Russian progress remained slow. The Chechen rebels employed effective urban guerrilla tactics, with small units emerging from their shelters to ambush Russian forces before retreating, with it taking until February 8th for the final Chechen fighters to be driven from the city (Seely, 2001). The civilian cost was appalling, with some estimates that up to 27,000 civilians were killed in Grozny alone during the five-week battle, representing 6% of the entire city’s population (Hodgson, 2003).

Nevertheless, according to Russian commanders, this was a success. The Russians suffered the same number of casualties in the one-month operation as had been suffered in only 60 hours in the initial New Year’s Eve assault, with the capture of Grozny being a significant morale boost for Russian forces (Hodgson, 2003). Consequently, this method was repeated across Chechnya’s towns and villages which were systemically obliterated to root out Chechen defenders as Russian forces advanced, with some 90% of the Chechen territory under Russian control by April 1995 (Pain, 2001). In territory that had been conquered, Russian Interior Ministry MVD forces would then engage in cleansing operations of villages holding suspected rebels or rebel sympathisers, often engaging in atrocities, including the massacre of over 100 civilians in the village of Samashki in April (Malek, 2009). Furthermore, filtration camps were established in which the civilian population was subjected to mass detention, alongside widespread abuses, to uncover suspected rebels (Malek, 2009).

In June 1995, hoping to take the pressure off the invasion, a Chechen terrorist cell seized a hospital in neighbouring Budyonnovsk taking around 1,500 hostages, to demand a ceasefire. Multiple failed Russian attempts to storm the hospital resulted in 150 hostages being killed before a negotiated ceasefire was agreed upon to bring the Conventional First Phase of the war to an end (Seely, 2001). This allowed the Chechens to regroup, as their fighters reinfiltrated areas taken by the Russians, with their numbers boosted by thousands of foreign volunteers. The Chechen insurgency soon ended the ceasefire in October 1995 to begin the Second Insurgency Phase of the war. Such action inflicted increasingly heavy and demoralising losses on the Russian forces, which were now spread thin across the country where they were vulnerable to hit-and-run raids by Chechen guerrillas, with most Russian casualties occurring in this phase (Pain, 2001). Due to Russian forces being on the defensive, they were less able to make frequent use of the heavy bombardment strategies that had succeeded in the conventional phase. Nevertheless, the utilisation of filtration camps and cleansing operations continued (Malek, 2009). As losses mounted, the Russian media utilised its newfound post-Soviet freedoms to put out grim footage of the conflict, rapidly turning the initially supportive Russian public opinion against the war (Hodgson, 2003). Despite Chechen leader Dudayev being killed by a guided missile strike on 22nd April 1996, the Chechens continued to make gains (Hodgson, 2003).

This paved the way for the Third and final phase, marked by an audacious Chechen assault on Grozny on 6th August 1996, in which 1,500 Chechen fighters infiltrated the city and launched a surprise attack on the 12,000 Russian defenders (Hodgson, 2003). Russian units were forced into isolated groups by the attackers, with Chechen numbers quickly boosted by reinforcements who set up effective defensive positions. After repeated Russian counterattacks were fought off, the Russians surrounded the city and on 19th August General Pulikovsky reverted to the familiar tactic of giving the Chechens an ultimatum of 48 hours to leave the city before an all-out bombardment, this time to include ballistic missiles and strategic bombers (Akhmadov & Lanskoy, 2010). This sparked mass panic amongst the 300,000 civilians still left trapped. As the deadline approached, 50,000 to 70,000 civilians remained inside the city, with all males over 11 considered suspected militants and not allowed through Russian lines. The bombardment began, hitting numerous fleeing columns of civilians, before the arrival of Russian national security advisor General Lebed to the city on 20th August. Lebed was highly critical of General Pulikovsky’s ultimatum and ordered the end of the bombardment and a ceasefire (Pain, 2001). Russian forces were ordered to withdraw from Chechnya on 22nd August 1996, marking a stinging defeat (Akhmadov & Lanskoy, 2010). By 31st August, the Khasav-Yurt Accord was signed formalising the Russian withdrawal and conferring Chechnya de facto independence (Pain, 2001).

Justifying Indiscriminate Destruction as a Tool of War

As evidenced by the First Conventional Phase of the war, Russian forces had the most military success when able to utilise the indiscriminate bombardment of populated settlements as part of an offensive conventional strategy. This method was enabled by the Russian forces fighting an asymmetric war, against an opponent much inferior in number and equipment, allowing the bombardment of Chechen cities, towns, and villages with impunity whilst the Chechens had little means of retort (Hodgson, 2003). This tactic was not just considered effective by Russian commanders, but necessary to make up for the deficiencies of their poorly trained and motivated conscripts (Kramer, 2005). The Second Insurgency Phase of the war saw this tactic become less relevant, as the war spread out into hit-and-run attacks and ambushes. Yet the Third Phase, after the loss of Grozny, saw the commanding Russian general attempt to revert to the first tactic as the default method of dislodging Chechen defenders. As evidenced by Grozny, the costs in civilian life were catastrophic, with one German observer in 1995 stating that Russian forces were willing to slaughter thousands of civilians if it meant killing just 10 or 15 rebels (Malek, 2009). The use of filtration camps, in which an estimated 200,000 Chechens were detained during the course of the war, and cleansing operations, furthered the often indiscriminate abuses meted out to civilians (Malek, 2009).

These appalling civilian casualties were justified by the belief of the Russian military and security hierarchy that most of the Chechen population were either actively involved in resistance, or else complicit in supporting it. General Sergei Stepashin, the head of the FSK Russian intelligence agency at the start of the war, was quoted as saying “to win this war the whole male Chechen population would have to be eradicated” (Malek, 2009, p. 92). A similar view was supported by Russian Major-General Vladimir Serebryannikov, who later estimated that between 80-90% of the Chechen population resisted the Russian occupation forces. Indeed, in 1996, Russian Deputy Defence Minister General Georgi Kondratyev further stated, “it is the entire Chechen population fighting here, not armed bandits” (Malek, 2009, p. 91). Clearly then, the view was widespread that civilians, even if not active combatants, were complicit in opposing Russian forces and were therefore acceptable collateral damage if it meant killing Chechen fighters or supporters. The fact that the bulk of civilian deaths were ethnic Russians, especially in cities like Grozny, is not considered (Malek, 2009). What is perhaps surprising here is that Russia at this point was attempting its transition to democracy, with Boris Yeltsin keen to put forth the image of a Western-style democratic President. Yet for Western observers of the war, Chechnya represented a horrifying level of indiscriminate brutality and disregard for the life of Russia’s own citizens that they might have expected from the USSR, not a Post-Cold War democratic Russia (Malek, 2009). Indeed, the reports of the Samashki Massacre cast a dark shadow over President Clinton’s attendance at Russia’s VE Day celebrations in May 1995, with several Western politicians decrying the brutal Chechen violence (Savranskaya & Evangelista, 2020).

A Blueprint for Destruction

Despite the First Chechen War ending in defeat, the tactics of the systematic destruction of populated areas have been a regular feature of Russian military interventions since then. The Second Chechen War launched by President Putin in 1999 aimed to dislodge the Islamist Militants who had seized power amidst Chechnya’s political vacuum after the First War, with Putin now reframing the conflict as a fight against terrorism (Malek, 2009). Contrary to seeking alternative strategies, the Russian Military simply doubled down on existing methods albeit with overwhelming force. Putin ordered the complete destruction of the already devastated Grozny and of several other Chechen towns in August 1999, as artillery, bombs, rockets, and guided missiles rained down for the next two months – before sending in a 100,000-strong invasion force in October (Malek, 2009). This left Grozny, according to a 2003 UN Report, as the most destroyed city on earth (Brog, 2017). Nevertheless, the capture of Grozny in January 2000 with lesser casualties than in 1995 massively boosted Putin’s popularity, cementing this as a successful tactic (Kramer, 2005).

Furthermore, the Russian intervention in Syria has proven the willingness of Russia to utilise these methods in overseas operations, with this first significant direct Russian military intervention overseas since the fall of the USSR (Lavrov, 2018). This likewise ended with the widespread destruction and large-scale loss of life in the Syrian-rebel stronghold of Aleppo, in which an extensive Russian bombing campaign in 2015 and 2016, including the use of cluster munitions, played a key role in allowing Syrian government forces to seize the city (Graham, 2017). Once again, for Putin this was considered a great success, helping turn the tide of the Syrian War in favour of the Assad regime as a Russian ally. Before the 2015 Russian intervention, Assad’s forces were in a difficult situation holding only one-sixth of Syrian territory, whereas by 2018 after the intervention it held 57% of the territory containing 73% of the Syrian population (Lavrov, 2018). The Russian invasion of Ukraine, after the initial failure to achieve a quick victory by taking Kiev, has once again witnessed Russia fall back onto the use of indiscriminate bombardment to achieve battlefield gains, most significantly in Mariupol (Bachelet, 2022). This has established a clear pattern of widescale destruction of populated urban centres in direct post-Soviet Russian military interventions over the course of nearly three decades. Nevertheless, it is perhaps notable that the Russian Invasion of Georgia in 2008, and the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, did not see the utilisation of indiscriminate bombardment. Yet the rapid nature of these two conflicts, with Russian forces achieving their military objectives within the first five days, meant there was little need to utilise such methods (Cohen & Hamilton, 2011; Wither, 2016). Rather, it seems the strategy is one that is resorted to in more protracted campaigns where a quick and easy victory is not possible.

Conclusions

As shown, the Russian invasion of Chechnya from 1994-1996 demonstrated the willingness of the Russian military to engage in the highly destructive strategy of widescale and indiscriminate bombardments of entire cities, towns and villages, to root out even small numbers of combatants, with little regard for civilian life. On a military level, these tactics were considered necessary to cover up the deficiencies of Russia’s conscripted and often poorly trained and motivated soldiers. Yet Russian leaders also justified the indiscriminate nature of these tactics through their belief that the bulk of the Chechen population was either actively involved in the Chechen armed opposition, or at least complicit in their support for it. What is clear is that, in military terms, this was considered a successful method for Russian military leaders in the pursuit of their objectives, with their opponents having little ability to respond. Subsequent Russian military campaigns in Chechnya, Syria and Ukraine, have readily utilised and even intensified this tactic to achieve their strategic objectives. That these campaigns have taken place over a thirty-year period, under two different Russian Presidents, both at home and abroad and with varying levels of domestic and international accountability, shows that the destruction of Chechnya was far from an exception in regards to Russian military intervention. Instead, it appears to be the general rule forming the blueprint for Russian military operations when it expects to be engaged in a protracted campaign.

Bibliographical references

Akhmadov, I. & Lanskoy, M. (2010). The Chechen Struggle Independence Won and Lost , Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Bachelet, M. (2022). High Commissioner updates the Human Rights Council on Mariupol, Ukraine, United Nations , Retrieved from: https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2022/06/high-commissioner-updates-human-rights-council-mariupol-ukraine

Brog, D. (2017). Reclaiming Israel's History: Roots, Rights, and the Struggle for Peace , Simon and Schuster.

Cohen, A. & Hamilton, R. (2011). The Russian Military in the Georgian War, Strategic Studies Institute .

Lavrov, A. (2018). Russia in Syria: a military analysis, in: Popescu, N. terly, 88:4, 24-31.

Hodgson, Q. (2003) Is the Russian bear learning? an operational and tactical analysis of the second Chechen war, 1999–2002, Journal of Strategic Studies , 26:2, 64-91.

Lavrov, A. (2018) Russia in Syria: a military analysis, in: Popescu, N. et al , eds., Russia´s Return to the Middle East: Building Sandcastles?, European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS) , 47-56.

Korostelina, K. & Kononenko, J. (2012). Double victims: the recruitment and treatment of child soldiers in Chechnya, in: Rothbart, D. et al , eds., Civilians and Modern War: Armed Conflict and the Ideology of Violence , Routledge, 96-113.

Kramer, M. (2005). Guerrilla Warfare, Counterinsurgency and Terrorism in the North Caucasus: The Military Dimension of the Russian-Chechen Conflict, Europe-Asia Studies , 57:2, 209-290.

Malek, M. (2009). Russia's Asymmetric Wars in Chechnya since 1994, Connections , 8:4, 81-98.

Menon, R. & Fuller, G. (2000). Russia's Ruinous Chechen War, Foreign Affairs , 79:2, 32-44.

Pain, E. (2001). From the First Chechen War Towards the Second, Brown Journal of World Affairs , 8:1, 7-20.

Seely, R. (2001). The Russian-Chechen Conflict 1800-2000: A Deadly Embrace , London: Routledge.

Savranskaya, S. & Evangelista, M. (2020). Chechnya, Yeltsin, and Clinton: The Massacre at Samashki in April 1995 and the US Response to Russia’s War in Chechnya, National Security Archive , Retrieved from: https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/russia-programs/2020-04-15/massacre-at-samashki-and-us-response-to-russias-war-in-chechnya

Wither, J. (2016). Making Sense of Hybrid Warfare, Connections , 15:2, 73-87.

Visual References

Cover Image: Lowe, P. (1994). A wounded man was helped to safety after a Russian bombing attack killed 18 people, including the American photographer Cynthia Elbaum, in Grozny in December 1994 [Photograph]. VII/Redux. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/10/world/europe/photos-chechen-war-russia.html

Figure 1: Voeten, T. (1995). Grozny, Chechnya, RUSSIA, A Russian APC on patrol in the war-ravaged city [Photograph]. Panos Pictures. Retrieved from: https://library.panos.co.uk/stock-photo/a-russian-apc-on-patrol-in-the-war-ravaged-city/search/detail-0_00032837.html

Figure 2: Chapple, A. (1995). A Chechen volunteer takes cover behind a Russian tank during street fighting in Grozny. The first advances into the city were a disaster for ill-prepared Russian forces, who face a determined resistance [Photograph]. Radio Free Europe. Retrieved from: https://www.rferl.org/a/twenty-years-on-from-the-first-chechen-war/27940170.html

Figure 3: Erken, L. (1995). Grozny, Chechnya. A complete family is dug out of a former shelter in the centre of town. They starved to death, trapped during incessant shelling [Photograph]. Panos Pictures. Retrieved from: https://library.panos.co.uk/stock-photo/a-complete-family-is-dug-out-of-a-former-shelter-in-the-centre-of-town-they/search/detail-0_00001207.html

Figure 4: Bradner, H. (1995). Chechnya, Russian soldiers wearing gas masks examine a mass grave to look for their fallen comrades. Countless unidentified bodies, the majority civilians, were dumped here after the battle for Grozny [Photograph]. Panos Pictures. Retrieved from: https://library.panos.co.uk/stock-photo/russian-soldiers-wearing-gas-masks-examine-a-mass-grave-to-look-for-their/gallery-13-1729-2223-5/detail-0_00007383.html

Figure 5: Evstafiev, M. (1995). A Russian Mi-8 helicopter shot down by Chechen fighters near the Chechen capital, Grozny during the First Chechen War [Photograph]. Wikimedia.org. Retrieved from: https://neweasterneurope.eu/2018/07/10/forgetting-chechnya/

Figure 6: Getty Images (2000). In the second Chechen war from 1999-2000, Russian forces again laid siege to Grozny, and intense fighting lasted weeks [Photograph]. BBC News . Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60631433

Figure 7: AFP (2016). Hundreds of people have been killed by Russian bombs in rebel-held east Aleppo [Photograph]. Middle East Eye . Retrieved from: https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/russia-slams-uk-russophobic-commends-aleppo-832719976

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It is a really well-written and interesting article! You succeeded in giving an overview of the historical events, without diminish their atrocities (not just reporting a list of historical facts, but also analysing their implications). You have done an excellent job!

Incredibly insightful reading! You clearly illustrated the reasoning behind the choice of different military strategies, and the importance of how their implications were perceived. Thank you!

Finn Archer

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Expert Commentary

Understanding the Chechen conflict: Research and reading list

2013 review of Chechnya-related scholarship and the conflict and political grievances there that continue to reverberate.

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License .

by Alexandra Raphel, The Journalist's Resource April 22, 2013

News that the primary suspects in the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings are of Chechen heritage resurrected interest in historically troubled Chechnya, an autonomous republic in Russia’s North Caucasus Region. Suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s motive has yet to be confirmed, but questions abound about what role the ongoing violence between Russia and Chechen separatists might have played.

Of course, precise connections are speculative, and the media has already been criticized for making too quick a leap — and for perpetuating stereotypes about Chechens and Muslims in general . Charles King’s article in Foreign Affairs , “Not Your Average Chechen Jihadis,” provides further insights on these points.  London School of Economics scholar Jim Hughes offers compelling perspective .

Fiona Hill, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution , writes , “Chechnya and Russia have spent centuries at war and it isn’t surprising that this conflict, which has spanned generations, would provide fertile ground to incite and radicalize sympathizers wherever they happen to live.” Hill also provides an overview of the conflict in an interview titled “The Troubled History of Chechnya.”

Although the region has, for the most part, stayed out of the Western media headlines in recent years, reverberations of the conflict are still being felt both in the region and among the global diaspora. Thomas de Waal, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, notes in a recent article that “a low-level Islamist insurgency continues in and around Chechnya that takes dozens of lives each year.” For a sense of recent activity in the region, see “Islam, Islamism, and Politics in Eurasia Report,” published in March 2013 by Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The ongoing animosity between the largely Muslim ethnic Chechens and the Russian government dates back to Russo-Persian War (1804-1813), when Persia transferred the territory to Russian control. After years of attempted revolt by the Chechens, in 1944 Soviet Leader Josef Stalin deported the entire population of the North Caucasus — people in the republics of Ingushetia, Chechnya and North Ossetia — to Central Asia, claiming that they were collaborating with Nazi Germany.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Chechen separatists called for independence from Moscow and two bloody wars followed during the following decade. The second ended in 2000 when Russian forces captured the Chechen capital of Grozny. Since then, Chechen separatists have continued to engage in acts of terrorism, including the 2002 hostage drama at a Moscow theater, capture of a school in 2004 and the 2010 bombing of a Moscow metro station .

For more information on the Chechen conflict and recent Russian history, see the Council on Foreign Relations’ “Backgrounder on Chechen Terrorism” and the article “What to Read on Russian Politics” in Foreign Affairs .

Below is a selection of papers, reports and articles that can provide further context on the conflict:

“The Rise of Radical and Nonofficial Islamic Groups in Russia’s Volga Region” Markedonov, Sergey. Center for Strategic and International Studies, January 2013.

Summary: “In the two decades since the dissolution of the USSR, Russian and Western experts, human rights activists, and journalists have become accustomed to the political violence of the North Caucasus. Terrorist bombings and acts of sabotage in Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Chechnya are perceived as somehow intrinsic to the region. But a recent tragedy in the Volga region suggests that this sort of violence — and the Islamist terrorists who perpetrate it — may not be confined to the Caucasus. To examine this increasingly serious situation, this report sheds light on the ideological sources and resources of radicalism in the Volga region, nonofficial Islamic movements’ support among the regional population, and opportunities for the potential growth of different forms of Islamist activities. It describes the origins of different nonofficial Islamic movements, as well as their post-Soviet development, ideology, and relationship with the authorities and official Muslim clergy. The report also offers practical approaches both for Russian domestic policy and for the U.S.-Russia security cooperation agenda.”

“Russia’s Homegrown Insurgency: Jihad in the North Caucasus” Blank, Stephen J. Strategic Studies Institute, October 2012.

Summary: “The three papers offered in this monograph provide a detailed analysis of the insurgency and counterinsurgency campaigns being conducted by Islamist rebels against Russia in the North Caucasus. This conflict is Russia’s primary security threat, but it has barely registered on Western minds and is hardly reported in the West as well. To overcome this neglect, these three papers go into great detail concerning the nature of the Islamist challenge, the Russian response, and the implications of this conflict. This monograph, in keeping with SSI’s objectives, provides a basis for dialogue among U.S., European, and Russian experts concerning insurgency and counterinsurgency, which will certainly prove useful to all of these nations, since they will continue to be challenged by such wars well into the future. It is important for us to learn from the insurgency in the North Caucasus, because the issues raised by this conflict will not easily go away, even for the United States as it leaves Afghanistan.”

“Prisoners of the Caucasus: Russia’s Invisible Civil War” King, Charles; Menon, Rajan. Foreign Affairs , July/August 2010.

Summary: “A pernicious mix of heavy-handed rule, corrupt governance, high unemployment, and militant Islam has reignited the Russian North Caucasus. Today, it is not only the old conflict zone of Chechnya but also its neighboring republics that are bordering on open civil war.”

“The New Chechen Jihad: Militant Wahhabism as a Radical Movement and a Source of Suicide Terrorism in Post-War Chechen Society” Speckhard, Anne; Akhmedova, Khapta. Democracy and Security , Vol. 2, Issue 1, 2006.

Abstract: The first act of Chechen suicide terrorism occurred on June 7, 2000, and was carried out by two young women. This inaugurated the migration of suicide terrorism from other conflict zones, into the Chechen conflict. How suicide terrorism as a tactic made its way into Chechnya is the topic of this paper, which provides an analysis of the events concerning the importation of militant ideologies and radical terrorist movements taking place since the Chechen declaration of independence as well as an empirical and theoretical analysis of Chechen suicide terrorism based on psycho-social interviews that were collected in Chechnya over a two-year time period from March 2003 to March 2005. We report data about suicide terrorism and the radicalization process from 32 interviews with family members and close associates of thirty-four Chechen suicide terrorists, inquiring about the terrorists’ backgrounds, experiences, religious, and psychological reasons leading up to their suicidal acts.

“Russia’s Ruinous Chechen War” Menon, Rajan; Fuller, Graham. Foreign Affairs , March/April 2000.

Summary: “The Russian Federation is unraveling, and its war against Chechnya shows why. Moscow blames Islamist terrorists for the trouble there. But in doing so, it ignores Russia’s deeper afflictions. Russia has forced disparate ethnic groups to live together for decades but has proven inept at governing its wobbly empire. Now the fighting in Chechnya is leading dissatisfied nationalities to rethink their options — and their dependence on Russia. Chechnya was the first to rebel. It will not be the last.”

“Russia’s Invasion of Chechnya: A Preliminary Assessment” Blank, Stephen J.; Tilford, Earl H. Jr. Strategic Studies Institute, January 1995.

Brief Synopsis: “On December 11, 1994, Russia invaded the secessionist republic of Chechnya in the North Caucasus. The aim was to suppress the republic’s government, led by General Dzhokar Dudayev, compel it to accept Moscow’s authority, and to force it to renounce its bid for independence and sovereignty. This invasion, which quickly turned into a military quagmire for Russia’s troops, triggered a firestorm of domestic opposition, even within the higher levels of the Ministry of Defense. As a result, the invasion has the most profound and troubling possible consequences for the stability of the Russian government, Russian democracy, and the future political-military relationship. This special report, based on what is already known, attempts to assess the discernible consequences of this invasion and provide a framework within which future developments can be assessed.”

“The North Caucasus: Russia’s Volatile Frontier” Kuchins, Andrew C.; Markedonov, Sergey. Center for Strategic and International Studies, March 2011.

Synopsis: “Continued violence and unrest in the North Caucasus have created a major area of instability for the Russian Federation. Although Chechnya is relatively more stable, for now, under the brutal dictatorship of Ramzan Kadyrov, neighboring republics including Ingushetia, Dagestan, and others have experienced significant increases in the frequency of violence. The entire region is plagued by extreme poverty, high unemployment, and corrupt and often incompetent governance. Additionally, the prevalence of radical Islamic influences as well as growing competitive nationalist identities further increases the challenges for governance and stability. The Russian federal government seeks to insulate the rest of the country from the overflow of violence in this volatile region, but terrorist attacks in the past year on the Moscow Metro and again on the train between Moscow and St. Petersburg demonstrate how hard this is to manage. Kuchins, Malarkey, and Markedonov examine the socioeconomic trends in the region, the role of Islam and rise of radicalism throughout the Caucasus, nationalism and growing ethnic tensions, and the external factors influencing the North Caucasus.”

“Radical Islam in the North Caucasus: Evolving Threats, Challenges, and Prospects” Markedonov, Sergey. Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 2010.

Synopsis: “As Kyrgyzstan plunges into crisis and the threat of a second Afghanistan in Central Asia looms large, the situation in the “Big Caucasus” seems less pressing and thus overshadowed. The worst scenarios predicted by analysts and politicians for the period of the 2008 August war have not been realized. The Russian attempt to “replace the regime” of Mikhail Saakashvili or apply the Georgian pattern in Ukraine, expected by many in the West, has not taken place. Neither have the attempts from the West (the United States, NATO, and others) to “nudge Georgia into a rematch,” which were expected in Moscow. Nonetheless, the Caucasus region remains one of the most vulnerable spaces in Eurasia. What challenges have turned the North Caucasus into a primary issue for Russia? Could we paint the political, ideological, and psychological portrait of the North Caucasus militant resistance? What resources do they have, and why has radicalism becomes popular? What external and internal factors determine their approaches? What mistakes did Russia, its society, and the Western observers make? And, finally, could the rise of Islamist militancy in the North Caucasus bring Moscow and Washington closer, regardless of the numerous foreign policy disputes existing between the two countries? This report is an attempt to answer these questions. It is based on open sources and interviews made during several trips to the North Caucasus republics, and it aims to promote more practical approaches to the situation there.”

“Conflicts in the Caucasus: Prospects for Resolution” Testimony by Fiona Hill before the U.S. Helsinki Commission, December 2011.

Excerpt: “The Helsinki Commission has an important role to play in advancing peace and democracy throughout the world. Unfortunately today, even in what might be considered an enlightened time, many people still face war and oppression in their homes. One of the regions that still witnesses much conflict is the Caucasus, with disputes in Georgia, Russia, Chechnya and others. The quest for peace is ongoing and certainly a worthwhile goal. Today, I hope to hear from the witnesses about the latest developments in the Caucasus. I would like to hear about what actions the countries within the region are taking to ease tensions. I’d also like to learn what the other Helsinki Commission countries are doing to help, as well as what the role the witnesses believe that us here in the United States House of Representatives, where we could be helpful.”

“Connectedness, Social Support and Internalising Emotional and Behavioural Problems in Adolescents Displaced by the Chechen conflict” Betancourt, Theresa S. et al. Disasters , 36(4), 2012.

Abstract: “ The study investigated factors associated with internalising emotional and behavioural problems among adolescents displaced during the most recent Chechen conflict. A cross-sectional survey (N=183) examined relationships between social support and connectedness with family, peers and community in relation to internalising problems. Levels of internalising were higher in displaced Chechen youth compared to published norms among non-referred youth in the United States and among Russian children not affected by conflict. Girls demonstrated higher problem scores compared to boys. Significant inverse correlations were observed between family, peer and community connectedness and internalising problems. In multivariate analyses, family connectedness was indicated as a significant predictor of internalising problems, independent of age, gender, housing status and other forms of support evaluated. Sub-analyses by gender indicated stronger protective relationships between family connectedness and internalising problems in boys. Results indicate that family connectedness is an important protective factor requiring further exploration by gender in war-affected adolescents.”

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Alexandra Raphel