Contemporary Violence

Contemporary Violence: Postmodern War in Kosovo and Chechnya draws on several years of field research, as well as interpretive IR theory and analysis of empirical source material, to shed light on contemporary violence.

Drawing on interpretive approaches to International Relations, the book argues that founding events and multiple contexts informed the narratives deployed by different members of each movement. It illustrates why elements within the Kosovo Liberation Army and the armed forces of the Chechen republic of Ichkeria favoured regional and local strategies of war in the Balkans and the North Caucasus.

The book employs post-positivist analysis and empirical research to unravel the relationship between narratives, stories, and hermeneutic accounts of International Relations. It examines regional politics and trans-local identity, globalisation and visual aspects of contemporary security, as well as criminality and emotionality. Together, these factors illustrate the dynamics within the armed resistance movements in Kosovo and the North Caucasus, leading to the road to war in 1999.

This work is a major addition to a small field of genuinely readable studies of IR theory. It will interest academics, researchers, students, area studies experts, and policy-makers seeking to understand the formation of the armed resistance movements in Kosovo and Chechnya.

Amongst other things, the book will appeal to students and scholars of International Relations, Political Studies, and Area Studies, as well as those in Cultural, Historical, and Sociological Studies.