Chechnya The conflict continuesChechnya is located in the Caucasus Mountains, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. It is surrounded by Dagestan to the east, Georgia and South Ossetia to the south, Russia to the north, and North Ossetia to the west. Chechnya is rich in mineral oil and produced twenty million tons per year before the disintegration of the Soviet Union. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 gave the Russian provinces the opportunity to declare their independence. The Russian government managed to maintain control over all states except Chechnya, which, under new president Dzhokhar Dudayev, declared independence in October 1991. The Russian government did not approve of this, and President Yeltsin declared war on the newly formed regime in 1994. Yeltsin They feared that if they had not declared war the other states of the Caucasus might have followed suit, to avoid this they preferred to immediately stop the war. The Second Chechen War, which began in September 1999, was the result of actions taken by Russia during the First War and was the product of the same policies. The struggle for Chechnya's independence has been ongoing since the Bolshevik revolution and it is a struggle that will continue to be fought in the future if nothing is done now. The Russo-Chechen war, which ended in 1996, should have given the Russian government a sense of things to come when they decided to attack in late September last year. Driven by state security challenges, Russia decided that democracy was in danger if it did not act. Russia is in a politically unstable situation right now with Yeltsin's resignation and the current presidential election looming. Concern over rampant corruption in government was also looming on the political horizon. If they had done nothing, Yeltsin's party would have had everything to lose, yet Putin (Yeltsin's successor) managed to focus media attention on the war rather than internal corruption. This war gave rise to a huge influx of racial hatred which again helped Putin. Since the majority of Chechens are Muslim and do not have the same ethnic origin as Russians, racial discrimination helped increase the popularity of the war and, subsequently, that of Putin. The security of oil in the South Caucasus states and its transportation routes are the main influencing factors in… half of the document… the task of the United States and its European allies to bring the case to public attention. European Court of Human Rights; the accusation, a violation of his rights deriving from international treaties. Russia should also be asked to conduct peace negotiations with the Chechens under the leadership of various European groups that have an interest in preserving the borders of the surrounding countries. Threats of this nature may be conveyed to Russia, but this action, and all that may result from it, will not necessarily be respected by Russia. Russia has already shown that it will do what it wants regarding this issue. The United States and its European allies are in opposition, and threatening Russia with action is the only thing they can do. Russia will not respond to these threats and is better off giving them only lip service. It is essential that this conflict is resolved in a way favorable to Russia. Russia cannot allow any part of its territory to secede because this would lead to actions by other regions and access to the oil fields of the Caucasus cannot be lost. Any other actions taken by third parties will only lead to the destabilization of Russia and the termination of diplomatic relations between Russia and the West.