Thomas P.M. Barnett

■"How Russia's Chechen Quagmire Became Front for Radical Islam: Aligning With Arab Militants Gained Money, Fighters For Rebel Leader Basayev; Swapping 'Che' for Allah," by Andrew Higgins, Guy Chazan and Gregory L. White, Wall Street Journal, 16 September 2004, p. A1.

A well-written article that shows how necessity make bedfellows of the most surprising sort. Shamil Basayev, a currently high-profile Chechen warlord waging "jihad" against the Russian actually began his career as a rebel separatist worshipping Che Guevera. Ten years later, the guy who never prayed is now "Allah's slave." You get the feeling that if Bill Gates had supplied a few million, Basayev would be a Microserf instead, but perhaps that's rather petty on my part.

Here's some more sensible analysis:

Mr. Basayev's journey from romantic rebellion to Islamist terror mirrors the evolution of the Chechen cause: It began as a nationalist struggle professing democracy and freedom as its goals, but is now soaked in the rhetoric and blood of global jihad.

Gee, guess I'm not the only one who has trouble remembering which side of the global conspiracy he's on. More to the larger point:

Beneath the changing slogans is a broader shift set in motion by the end of the Cold War. Radical Islam has mutated into something akin to communism in the pastóa convenient, off-the-shelf ideology that can clothe complex local conflicts that few would care about otherwise. These include separatist struggles in Aceh in Indonesia, Indian-controlled Kashmir and Russian-ruled Chechnya. In a host of other countries from Morocco to Malaysia, Islamists have replaced communists as the principal source of opposition to established ruling orders.
By donning Islamist garb, leaders of these widely different causes can open the door to foreign funds, particularly from wealthy Gulf states, and also to manpower from a pool of footloose militants looking for work. Many who have know Mr. Basayev over the years question his newfound religious zeal but acknowledge his skill at tapping the opportunities offered by global jihad.

This is exactly why I argue that Osama and company are just the latest version of Lenin and the Bolsheviks, and that any attempt to dress up this conflict as historically unique to Islam, and thus requiring our "sensitivity" to their "unique" cultural norms is complete bullshit. All we're seeing here is the latest wave of resistance to the cultural, economic, and political changes forced upon traditional societies by the expansion of the global economy. You tell me Lenin was all about ideology and Osama is all about religion, and I'll tell you youíre the one being idealistic. Basayev is all about power: getting it, concentrating it, and preserving it. And to accomplish his goals, plenty will need to die and countless more will ultimately need to be disconnected from "evil" outside influences.

So let's get it straight here once and for all: I am a cog in the global CAPITALIST conspiracy, not the socialist-communist-fascist-fetishist-sadist-feminist-homosexualist-one-world-governmentalist-am-I-leaving-anyone-out-ist conspiracy. I do want to see globalization become global, and people everywhere enjoy the freedom of markets.

So sue me . . . if you live in a country with the appropriate legal rule set.