Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: The proposed paper interprets the second Chechen conflict (since 1999) through the prism of the securitisation framework derived by Barry Buzan et al. In studying official discourses and securitising moves, the repeated claims on the part of the Russian authorities that the situation in the republic is ?normalising? are assessed. Using elements of the constructivist speech-act approach advocated by Buzan et al?s securitisation framework, the first part of the paper analyses Russian and Western discourses relating to developments in Chechnya. Amongst other issues it assesses the effects of 9/11 on international reactions to Russian representations of the Chechen conflict, such as the increasing acceptance by foreign governments of the highly securitised nature of this discourse. The second part of the paper assesses successful securitisation moves with reference to the discourses within which the war has been framed officially, and in particular in consideration of the claims voiced by the Russian authorities of an occurring ?normalisation? of the Chechen republic. By contrasting Russian securitising discourse and claims of a process of normalisation with the counter-discourse of opponents of the Chechen war in Russia and abroad, the paper concludes that the second Chechen war is a clear example of a successful securitisation having taken place.