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Northern Ireland (last updated March 5, 2002)
Northern Ireland - the six northeastern provinces of Ireland that Britain retained control of when it gave independence to the rest of the island in 1922 - has seen a long-running campaign of internal violence stemming largely from the Catholic minority's desire for independence and its distrust of the Protestant majority. This violence began in the late 1960s and has been called "the troubles" by many.
In recent years, parties representing the Protestant/Loyalist majority and the Catholic/Nationalist minority have taken steps towards a lasting peace, the most significant being the Good Friday Agreement reached in April 1998 and approved in a popular referendum the following month. However, disagreements about the pace of disarmament have threatened to unravel the entire peace process several times in 2000 and 2001.
From 1801 to 1921, the island of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, along with Britain and Scotland. However, nationalism continued to thrive, and culminated in the Anglo-Irish War of 1919-21. Afterwards, the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 partitioned the island of Ireland into the Irish Free State, which consisted of most of the island and was free of the commonwealth, and Northern Ireland, which consisted of six predominantly Protestant counties of northeast Ulster and remained under British control. The Irish Free State's government then declared itself a republic in 1948. Northern Ireland, on the other hand, had its own parliament and prime minister but remained an uneasy part of the United Kingdom.
Concentrated in Northern Ireland, the "troubles" began in the late 1960s, arguably a continuation of the struggle from the 1920s or a new phenomenon emerging from new economic problems. The IRA protested, and Britain cracked down, first with the internment of suspected republicans and then by sending armed forces to Ireland. The conflict took on an air of terror, with Protestant and Catholic paramilitary groups targeting leaders and using terrorist tactics such as car bombs, both in Northern Ireland and in Britain. The worst year, by far, was 1972, which saw the most deaths as well as the January 30, 1972 incident generally known as "Bloody Sunday," in which eight unarmed Irish republicans were shot by British soldiers. The following year, Britain imposed direct rule to deal with the deteriorating political and security situation.
The struggle has many dimensions, not simply Protestant versus Catholic, though distrust between the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority is widespread and steeped in history. There is Irish versus Scotch-Irish, loyalist/unionist versus nationalist/republican. There is also an economic dimension, as Northern Ireland has faced economic depression and has seen a high unemployment rate, with Catholics having a rate at times more than twice as high as that of Protestants and often facing employment discrimination. With the passing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, which established a consensus government in 1998 and has generally met with approval from most people but criticism from others, another line has been drawn between those who support or oppose it.
Some of the major parties involved include:
- Unionist/Loyalist, Protestant
- Ulster Unionist Party, largest party in Northern Ireland, for the Protestant majority, wants to stay as part of Britain. Led by David Trimble, who was elected as First Minister of the Northern Ireland Executive's and has returned to office since resigning in protest in mid-2001, and who shared the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize with John Hume.
- Ulster Democratic Party, political wing of Ulster Defense Association. The UDA has continued violent actions since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and was "specified" by Britain in October 2001, thus indicating that the British government considered the cease-fire with the UDA and some other groups to be ended. The UDP was dissolved in November 2001.
- Protestant Democratic Unionist Party. Led by Rev. Ian Paisley, who campaigned against passage of the Good Friday Agreement.
- Nationalist/Republican, Catholic
- Social Democratic and Labor Party, Ulster's largest nationalist party. Led for decades by John Hume, who led the party for decades until resigning in 2001, and who shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 1998 with David Trimble.
- Provisional Irish Republican Army. Received some support from groups in the United States, such as the Ireland Northern Aid Committee (Noraid). One prominent member was Bobby Sands, who was one of 10 republican prisoners who died on a hunger strike in 1981 protesting prison conditions.
- Sinn Fein. Political wing of the IRA. Led by Gerry Adams, the controversial IRA/Sinn Fein leader to whom President Bill Clinton granted visas in the mid-1990s to help Adams' credibility in moving towards decommissioning.
The United States' role in Northern Ireland has expanded slowly over the course of the troubles. Jimmy Carter was the first president to address the Northern Ireland problem, publicly asking in August 1977 for a peaceful resolution and urging Irish Americans to stop sending money and weapons to republican organizations in Northern Ireland. However, the United States did not take an active role in the issue, and was only indirectly involved by monitoring pro-republican groups such as the Irish Northern Aid Committee (Noraid) and cracking down on arms shipments by such groups.
As the British and Irish governments took steps forward, the United States became more involved. With the Anglo-Irish Agreement of 1985, the British and Irish governments recognized that Northern Ireland was part of the United Kingdom until a majority vote in the area said otherwise, but that Ireland was to have a formal voice in Northern Ireland affairs.
To support that agreement, the United States began sending economic aid to Ireland and Northern Ireland, with President Ronald Reagan invoking Carter's promise almost a decade earlier. Beginning in 1986, the United States has contributed aid each year to the International Fund for Ireland, of which 75 percent is required to go to Northern Ireland. As the main contributor to the fund, the United States gave more than $300 million by 2001 and now gives about $25 million a year.
Real movement towards peace in Northern Ireland began in the early 1990s. In December 1993, the "Downing Street Declaration" was issued, promising inclusive political talks. The Irish Republican Army then called a "total cessation" of military operations on August 31, 1994, followed by a similar cease-fire by loyalist paramilitaries. On February 21, 1995, the British and Irish governments then issued a frameworks document proposing a basis for negotiations, but the process stalled over disagreements about the IRA decommissioning its weapons.
President Bill Clinton was involved in these steps, reportedly first by encouraging British Prime Minister John Major into signing the Downing Street Declaration. He then enraged Britain by granting visas to Gerry Adams and allowing him to raise money while in the United States. This move ended a long ban on official contact between the United States and Sinn Fein, but was designed to encourage Adams and the IRA into decommissioning. Adams arrived for the first time on February 1, 1994, and then returned several times after that, even being honored at a White House dinner on St. Patrick's Day in 1995.
In November 1995, the British and Irish governments agreed to separate political discussions from and to establish an international body that would provide an independent assessment of decommissioning. That body was headed by former US Senator George Mitchell, who served at Clinton's request. In January 1996, that commission issued a report that urged all sides to maintain the cease-fire and to begin decommissioning during the process of all-party negotiations, rather than before or after, and not as an act of surrender but as a demonstration of "a willingness to address differences through political means." Britain rejected the proposal, the IRA officially ended its cease-fire in February 1996, and negotiations stalled for months.
With the election of Tony Blair as Britain's prime minister in May 1996, all parties began to resume negotiations. They finally reached an agreement on April 10, 1998, which happened to be Good Friday, thus giving rise to the agreement's name, the Good Friday Agreement (it is officially known as the Belfast Agreement). George Mitchell brokered the deal, and Clinton was personally involved as well, talking with several participants and reportedly talking several out of walking out of the negotiations. Later in 1998, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1998 to David Trimble and John Hume for the Good Friday Agreement.
The agreement met with popular approval, as shown by a referendum held in Northern Ireland on May 22, 1998. Despite vigorous opposition by some, such as Rev. Ian Paisley of the Protestant Democratic Unionist Party, voters approved the Good Friday Agreement by 71 percent to 29 percent, a large enough margin to ensure considerable support from both Protestants and Catholics. In a simultaneous referendum in the Republic of Ireland, voters approved the agreement by 94 percent.
Under the agreement, a 108-member National Assembly holds legislative power. To ensure "cross-community support," members of the assembly are required to register whether they are unionist, nationalist, or other, and "key" decisions must have sufficient support from both unionist and nationalist designations to pass. The assembly jointly elects, as a "key" decision, its First Minister and Deputy First Minister, who preside over an Executive Committee. Under the agreement, reforming the police system was delegated to an independent commission.
The first National Assembly elections were held on June 25, 1998, and the results ensured power-sharing between unionist and nationalist sides. Two Unionist parties (the Ulster Unionist Party and the Democratic Unionist Party) won a combined 48 seats, and two Nationalist parties (the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Fein) won a combined 42 seats. David Trimble, leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, was then elected by the assembly as first minister, with Seamus Mallon, a nationalist, as deputy first minister.
Implementation of the agreement is a long-term, multi-faceted process. Since the process began, several thousands of British troops have left Northern Ireland, and the economy has grown with new jobs and revived tourism. However, the issue of decommissioning has continued to plague the process and proven the biggest obstacle to success.
To prevent the entire agreement from collapsing over the IRA's failures to begin decommissioning as scheduled and to meet with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD), Britain has even suspended the Northern Ireland Executive several times. Britain first suspended the executive for almost four months in early 2000, beginning when the Ulster Unionist Party threatened to withdraw from the agreement and ending only after the IRA finally pledged on May 6, 2000 to put its arms completely "beyond use."
Protesting the IRA's continued failure to begin decommissioning as promised, Trimble did resign as first minister on July 1, 2001, and the IRA proposed and then withdrew a plan to commission in August. Britain again suspended the Assembly and Executive for one day in August 2001 and for another day in September. Finally, this latest crisis ended in late October when the IRA issued a statement that it had implemented a scheme developed with the IICD, which the IICD acknowledged as a "significant" event. Trimble then urged the Ulster Unionist Party to return to the Northern Ireland Executive, and he was re-elected as First Minister in November.
Sources: Joseph E. Thompson, American Policy and Northern Ireland (Praeger Publishers, 2001). Jack Holland, Hope Against History: The course of conflict in Northern Ireland (Henry Holt and Company, 1999). George J. Mitchell, Making Peace (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999). An excellent Internet site on the "troubles" is the Conflict Archive on the Internet (CAIN), which collected the data for the graphs on deaths attributed to the "troubles" and on British army personnel in Northern Ireland, is online here. US State Department country background notes on Ireland and the United Kingdom are available via the department's website, on-line here. The State Department's 1999 Country Report on Economic Policy and Trade Practices on Ireland is on-line here. The complete text of the Good Friday Agreement is available on-line here. The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is on-line here. Information on the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize to John Hume and David Trimble, including their Nobel lectures, is on-line here.
Chechnya (last updated November 3, 2002) (back to top)
Chechnya, a small, oil-rich, predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus mountain region, has been the site of Russia's greatest internal dissension and military conflicts in the 1990s and the early 21st century. The first Russia-Chechnya military conflict lasted from 1994 to 1996, involved human-rights abuses by both sides, and ended with the Russian forces' embarrassing defeat. A second war began in August 1999, and arguably has continued into 2002.
Still, violent struggles go on and the Russian government sporadically meets with Chechen leaders. In October 2002, Chechen rebels took control of a Moscow theater in October 2002 and threatened to kill hundreds of hostages one at a time until their demands were met. Russian military forces took the theater back by force within three days, killing about 40 rebels and more than 100 out of roughly 750 hostages in the process.
The Russian-Chechen conflict has taken on a new aspect in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. On September 24, 2001, Putin called on Chechen rebels to stop contacts with international terrorist organizations, trying to link Russia's actions with the United States' actions against al-Qaeda. However, while there is some evidence of individuals or factions tied to terrorist elements, there is none of extensive ties between Chechens and al-Qaeda, a Bush administration official testified in May 2002.
Chechnya's move to independence began without violence in 1991, shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union. Chechnya then elected former Russian general Dzokhar Dudayev as president, and Dudayev declared the country's independence from Russia. Yeltsin had said in 1990 that Russia's various parts should "take as much sovereignty as you can handle," but now as President, he responded to Chechnya's action by declaring a state of emergency and sending in a small number of troops. The operation was ill-conceived, was not supported by the Russian Parliament, and ended embarrassingly when the troops were escorted out of Chechnya.
For the next three years, Chechnya was effectively an independent country. It exported millions of tons of oil and contributed no taxes to the Russian government.
Finally, the Yeltsin administration decided in the fall of 1994 to take action again against Chechnya. The action was described as a necessary act to rein in a separatist regime that harbored criminals who committed hijackings and other acts, but the Yeltsin administration also reportedly believed a war against Chechnya would play well in Russian domestic politics, especially with the then-growing popularity of an ultra-nationalist party. The Russian Parliament again condemned the action, but did not call for the troops' withdrawal as it had in 1991.
More than 40,000 Russian troops entered the Chechen capital of Grozny in mid-December 1994 and then launched a massive artillery campaign on New Year's Eve. About half a million civilians were displaced during the next 20 months of war, and an estimated 50,000 civilians were killed. (The United States did not get directly involved with the conflict, believing the conflict was an internal affair and not recognizing Chechnya as anything other than a part of Russia.)
Dudayev was killed by a Russian attack in April 1996, and was replaced by new leadership that opened new talks with the Russians. In August 1996, Russian and Chechen authorities negotiated a settlement that resulted in the near-complete withdrawal of Russian troops by elections held in January 1997. Chechnya retained its de facto independence, and a peace treaty was signed in May 1997.
A second modern Chechen war began in August 1999, after Chechen commandoes began efforts to seize control of the neighboring republic of Dagestan, which has a sizeable Muslim population and which would provide Chechnya access to the Caspian Sea. Russian forces responded by launching air strikes and re-deploying large numbers of Russian forces, and the conflict escalated after Chechens reportedly bombed two apartment buildings in Moscow in September 1999.
Russian forces claimed to control Chechnya by the spring of 2000, but military operations continued long past that date, with about 80,000 troops stationed there in early 2001. President Vladimir Putin announced In January 2001 that he would begin withdrawing troops and turn anti-separatist operations to special counterterrorist forces, but the withdrawal has proven slower than initially expected.
Russian forces were criticized in both wars for human-rights abuses such as attacking civilians and deliberately attacking civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, and are now criticized for the alleged disappearances and torture of Chechen separatists. The U.N. Commission on Human Rights called in April 2000 for Russia to form a broad-based independent commission to investigate human-rights violations, but Russia had not done so as of early 2002.
Sources: Anatol Lieven, Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power (Yale University Press, 1998). Carlotta Gall and Thomas de Waal, Chechnya: Calamity in the Caucasus (New York University Press, 1998). David Remnick, Resurrection: The Struggle for a New Russia (Vintage Books, 1998). The U.S. State Department's March 2002 background note on Russia is on-line here, and a human-rights report is on-line here. U.S. Ambassador Steven Pifer's May 9, 2002 statement to the Congressional Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe is on-line here. Steven Greenhouse, U.S. says Russian move is 'an internal affair,' New York Times, December 12, 1994. Michael Wines, Putin scaling down Chechen war despite new fighting, New York Times, January 23, 2001. Michael Wines and Sabrina Tavernise, Russia recaptures theater after Chechen rebel group begins to execute hostages, New York Times, October 26, 2002.
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