Abstract
This thesis will examine Vladimir Putin\u27s controversial political decisions regarding the Second Chechen War justifying the conflict both inside and outside of Russia. It opens with Putin identifying with the United States after the terrorist activities of September 11, 2001 and how he used the American War on Terror to explain his own decisions regarding the Caucasus. For further understanding the paper looks at the history of Russian-Chechen relations to show how the centuries of hostility and mistrust culminated in two Chechen Wars within a ten year time period (1994-2004). It will also study the Russian view, held by Putin, which Chechnya was not declaring independence but was attempting to secede from the Russian Federation. It concludes with a look at Putin\u27s solution to the conflict, the Chechnization of the Second Chechen War, where the Russian military withdrew from the region to be replaced by Putin\u27s handpicked regime, the Kadyrovs
