User:Wvc9/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Chechnya

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I was born in a former Soviet Union country and most of what I've learned about the Soviet Union has been related to Eastern Europe or Central Asia, but very rarely has it been about the Caucasus. Given the current political climate in Russia with Putin's ideology of Russian ultra-nationalism, I find it very interesting to look in to the experiences of Non-Russian ethnic groups inside Russia and how their cultural identity is taken advantage of by the Russian government when useful (for example, Putin trying to use "Islamic values" as an appeal to recruit Chechen soldiers to fight in Ukraine, or treated harshly when disadvantageous (the Chechen wars of the mid 2000s.)

Evaluate the article
The history section of the article for the eras before Russian colonialism are interesting and provide informative details about Chechen people and history, however after the period of Russian colonialism begins there is little mentioned about Chechnya or Chechens outside of the context of colonialism. The impacts of Russian colonialism are of course important to mention when discussing Chechnya's history, however they should be mentioned alongside other parts of Chechen history that exist outside of suffering at the hands of oppression. Even in the Soviet and Post-Soviet parts of the history section, very little is mentioned about anything except Chechen resistance to colonialism. The portrayal of Chechen resistance in the modern day is also mostly negative, which is harmful because it can serve to vilify an already marginalized group. While there certainly have been acts committed by Chechen rebels that deserve the title of terrorism, using these examples without going in depth explaining the modern and historical context of the political repression from the Russian government that often pushes some Chechens to these extreme acts of violence paints an unfair picture of Chechnya. While the negative side of Chechen resistance and it's consequences are important to mention, the article would have been better if there was more information given about the impact of Soviet oppression and the Chechen wars to give more context as to why Chechnya is so often the site of violence. The sources do come from a diverse range of publications and nationalities, however there are many sources cited which are 10+ or even 20+ years old, so while this information could certainly still be correct it should be noted that some information in this article may be outdated.