The Russian-Chechen war has been the longest, cruelest, and bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, surpassing even the level of destruction of Bosnia and Kosovo. Told from the perspective of its former Foreign Minister, this uniquely candid account of Chechnya's struggle for independence and its two wars against Russia will revise our understanding of the conflict and explain how it continues. Ilyas Akhmadov delivers a comprehensive history of the first war against Russia, the crises within Chechen society, the splintering and radicalization of the Chechen leadership, the incursions into Dagestan, and his own efforts to bring about peace. The book shows the impossible dilemma of the moderate nationalists in post-Soviet societies, who are challenged by radical Islamic ideology, social deprivations, Russian aggression, and international neglect. By giving voice to the moderates, the book seeks to shift the balance in their favor.

Assembled here is a documentary portrait of the CIS, drawing on more than 500 official publications and releases and reports from the broadcast and print media. Excep-tionally comprehensive in scope and breadth, Russia and the Commonwealth of lndepen-dent States presents the actual texts of CIS accords and protocols as well as commentary from leading journalists and political actors.

The documents are grouped within 10 chapters. Each chapter is preceded by introductory notes written by the editors, supplying historical background and identification of key issues surrounding the documents presented.

Also included is a collection of maps which provide geographical detail of the CIS, Russia's Ethnic Republics. The Caucasus and Central Asia, Major Muslim Ethnic Groups in Armenia, Iran, and the Islamic Commonwealth States, and the Major Defense Facilities in the CIS Territory.

The volume concludes with five appendixes which provide a chronological listing of key events, CIS development, CIS data, and Country Profiles, in which a political profile, area map, economic and demographic statistics are provided for the 12 member states.

Told from the perspective of its former Foreign minister, this is a uniquely candid account of Chechnya's struggle for independence and its two wars against Russia which will revise our understanding of the conflict and explain how it continues. Features new insights, intimate portraits of key personalities and a foreword by Zbigniew Brzezinski.

This is the first full-length study of relations among the communist states. The study explores the implications of the status of Yugoslavia and China, the significance of the Hungarian revolution and the position of Poland in the Soviet bloc, and clarifies the Khrushchev-Gomulka clash of 1956 and the complex role of Tito. Zbigniew Brzezinski emphasizes the role of ideology and power in the relations among the communist states, contrasting bloc relations and the unifying role of Soviet power under Stalin with the present situation. He suggests that conflicts of interest among the ruling elites will result either in ideological disputes or in weakening the central core of the ideology, leading to a gradual decline of unity among the Communist states. The author, while on leave from his post as Professor and Director of the Research Institute on Communist Affairs, Columbia University, and serving on the U.S. State Department's Policy Planning Council, has revised and updated his important study and added three new chapters on more recent developments. He gives particular attention to the Sino-Soviet dispute.