CHECHNYA AND UNGA…

Russia’s dilemma in Chechnya is manifest also in its foreign policy. At the United Nations General Assembly, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov linked “aggressive separatism” to the “monster of terrorism.” The UN, he said, must consistently defend “the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the inviolability of national borders,” which must take precedence over matters of human rights. He called on the United Nations “resolutely to put an end to all manifestations of separatism.” Russian diplomacy has moved quite some distance from the Soviet Union’s open endorsement of wars of national liberation and covert support of international terrorism, including the Islamic-fundamentalist variety.