A preliminary model of secession, ethnic conflict and violence in Tatarstan and Chechnya: The role of the state

Abstract

Scholars do not fully understand why violence is so prevalent in some secessions but not in others. The comparison between Tatarstan and Chechnya attempts to answer this question. Although there are several similarities between the two situations, violence was absent in Tatarstan and so prevalent in Chechnya. The Russian state invaded Chechnya and signed a bilateral treaty with Tatarstan. A model focusing on the role of the state in post‐communist settings and state decision‐making is asserted. Several additional factors influenced the decisions of the state including geography, demographics, the historical relationship with Russia, the domestic context and the international context.