Also, although this risks breaking the "20 year rule," I was curious about what Russian actions may have influenced Chechnya's shift from a nationalist conflict in 1993 to an Islamic fundamentalist conflict in the Second Chechnya War (meaning actions that occurred DURING THE FIRST Chechen WAR (1993-1995(6)). Please stick to the rules of this subreddit, and if my question is not conducive to the rules; please point me to a subreddit more suited to this topic.
Thanks for the responses!
You might be interested in some previous threads on Chechnya.
The Chechen Wars
Why Did The Russians Storm Grozny Without Infantry Support? - 4 comments, over 9 months old.
By looking at Grozny as a informal case study, a user summarizes Russian weaknesses and Chechen strengths during the First Chechen War.
Please explain the Chechen rebellion/war - 23 comments, over 2 years old.
This both puts the Chechen Wars in context with historical relations between Russia and Chechnya and talks about the problems the Russian Federation had in conducting the wars inside of Chechnya with emphasis on human rights abuses and Russian weaknesses during the wars.
In "Wednesday AMA: Chechnya" there were a variety of comment threads related to this topic - 354 comments, over 1 year old.
From one student of counterinsurgency to another, what do you think was the weakness in the Russian counterinsurgency during the first Chechen War? - 32 comments (comment thread).
This comment thread takes a more in-depth look at Russian institutional problems and wishful thinking during the first war as contrasted with Chechen preparedness and experience.
Commenters here go into the tactics used by the Chechens against the Russian military during the first war as well as how the Russian military applied a few lessons learned from the first war in fighting the second.
Chechen Terrorism and Islamic Fundamentalism