For Tuesday: Hyper-nationalism - Huntington's theories in the real world

Please make sure you have finished the Huntington materials.

For Tuesday, we will examine the phenomenon of hyper-nationalism, a force that threatens to tear apart states in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Caucasus. We will especially look at Chechnya's recent history, including the two Russo-Chechen wars and the Beslan school tragedy. What motivated Shamil Basayev? What are the goals of the Chechen nationalists? Think about these topics. There is plenty on the syllabus, but here is a short list of what we will read:

This BBC article looks at Basayev.

Here is an article in the New York Times written just after Basayev 's death. It asks whether the Chechen guerilla movement died along with Basayev.

A CBS news video of Beslan can be found here, and we will look at this and other videos, including a powerful documentary about the suffering of the Chechen people.

Also, try to read about Nagorno-Karabakh. You can do this on your own, or you can read this article about Karabakh's current situation, as well as this and this. A background piece is here.