The Russian-Chechen War, an Endless Conflict

The Russian-Chechen war is far from being over; it is relevant task oneself about the mechanisms of such a situation : why does not the intensity of this conflict decrease? The conflict is based on the opposition between logic of power and logic of values, yet this double electric shock does not explain everything. The Russian-Chechen war echoes a matrix based on a specific representation of the relationship between space and time : on a spatial axis, the Russians and the Chechens answer to antagonistic dynamics of opening based on several outstanding lines (the domination of the Caucasian isthmus, the power of the plain versus that of the mountain, or the aspiration to benefit from Caucasus’s economic potential); on a temporal axis, the Russian and the Chechens follow dual power logics, where a developmental and universalistic logic confronts another logic based on culture and particularity. The shock of nationalisms, the opposition between logic of domination and logic of emancipation, as well as the representation of the Other in literature and poetry, are so many trials of strengths participating to this dualist logics of power. – Summary AFRI-2005