In the post-Cold War world, the focus of international security concernshifted from the nuclear stand-off betwecn two supcr povvers to the mosaic ofdeep ethnic tensions. Since the cnd of the Soviet system, it has becomeincreasingly evident that the Caucasus is one of the most worrying troublespots. There are half a dozen potential border disputcs and more than twcntysignificant ethnic groups in the region. In this short article, I vvould like toconcentrate on a recent dispute in the region: the vvar in Chechnia. I willoutline some of the complcxities of this fascinating qucstion. I vvill try toidentify the basis of age-long problems and draw some comparisons vvith thepast and presen t.