Conflict in the Caucasus… and Boston? - Guest Blog by Ben Wolch

After the announcement that the Boston Marathon bombers were of Chechen origin, the American populace clambered to figure out what on earth a “Chechnya” was.  (The image below shows a Google trends graph tracking the number of times the word “Chechnya” was searched over the past 5 years.)  American’s barely even knew where Iraq or Afghanistan was when we invaded them.  It is important that we are educated on the conflicts occurring around the globe so we understand how our actions affect them.  Part of the current wave of global anti-Americanism is tied to the stereotype that Americans are simply unaware of non-American conflicts.  The backlash over the “Innocence of Muslims” video further proves that you do not need to work for the State Department to affect the image of America.

Chechnya is a region in Russia that has a significant independence movement.  It is located in the Caucasus, the region in between the Black and Caspian Seas, a very ethnically and religiously diverse area.  The region is riddled with conflict, from the Armenian genocide in the early 20^th century, to conflict over even more obscure sounding regions than Chechnya like South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh.  What sets Chechnya apart from the rest of Russia is that the majority of its population is Muslim.  They view the Russian government as imperialist and have fought two full scale wars against them.  Today, their movement continues through insurgencies that mirror Taliban resistance against US presence in Afghanistan. 

But what does this have to do with Boston?  Why did a conflict from half way around the globe make its way into a relatively peaceful American city?  Rebel groups in Chechnya have been exporting terrorists long before the Boston attacks.  Terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq have received many Chechen recruits and material assistance in their struggles.  While the Tsaernev brothers lived in the US for a considerable amount of time and weren’t just pawns sent by their Chechen overlords to do their dirty work, they still could have been inspired by the mercenaries of the Gulf and Afghani wars.  While it is plausible that the brothers could have harbored resentment to the US government, it still baffles me that they would attack innocent civilians at a non-US government sponsored event.  It is interesting to notice that the attacks took place right next to the stretch of race track that was lined with the flags representing all the countries participating in the race.  If someone wanted to show their displeasure with US foreign policy, the Boston Marathon seems like the last place to bomb.  I am sure over the next few weeks more information will be uncovered, especially since the authorities have the younger brother alive.  In the meantime, Americans will be sitting at the edge of their seats waiting for an explanation.