Chechnya
How dangerous is the Sunni-Shia schism?
What unites the two groups is more fundamental than what divides them, says Barnaby Rogerson, and the more serious conflict among Muslims concerns ethnicity and language
A 1,000-mile trek through the Caucasus finally clears the mind
Scarred by reporting the Beslan school siege in 2004, Tom Parfitt embarks on a gruelling – and ultimately healing – journey from the Black Sea to the Caspian
Inside Putin’s mind: the lessons of Chechnya
The lessons of Chechnya
Ukrainians fear Chechen fighters. Russian soldiers hate them
Residents fleeing the Kiev suburb of Bucha reported Chechens machine-gunning cars, even those with the word ‘children’written in their windscreens.…
![Marie Colvin, a year before her death. [Rex Features]](https://www.spectator.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Marie_Colvin.jpg?w=410&h=275&crop=1)
For Marie Colvin, mortal danger was what made life worth living
When Britain finally lowered the flag in the Iraqi city of Basra in 2007, the army’s top brass valiantly claimed…
Laurence Oliphant: oddest of Victorian oddballs
As an erstwhile obituarist, I pity the poor hack who had to write up the life of Laurence Oliphant —…
Isis takes its British schoolgirl jihadis seriously. Why don’t we?
When the first schoolgirls ran away to Isis I had some sympathy for them — at least, I could see…
Can Putin ban homosexuality and endorse polygamy? Yes he can
The Kremlin is tying itself in ideological knots as it tries to make new friends in the Muslim world
The Boston marathon bombers: Muslim radicals or ordinary American citizens?
As Masha Gessen herself admits — and as friends and journalist colleagues repeatedly told her — it was a strange…
