ABSTRACT
Collocations of words, such as 'illiberal peace' that would have been deemed oxymoronic twenty years ago, have now become established concepts in international relations. The concept of 'illiberal democracy' emerged at a juncture in the post-Cold War world when two conflicting trends were developing. Ramzan Kadyrov's 'cult of personality' does bear a resemblance to the populism of Chavez, while his 'super-presidency' in Chechnya clearly mirrors Putin's role in his vertical of power elites. Eurasia, in particular Russia but also other former Soviet republics that have not yet made the transition from authoritarian to democratic rule, is of obvious relevance to the situation in Chechnya. The world today is much more complex than this and, as has been demonstrated, the application of Western norms in non-Western environments has inevitably met with resistance. This has led to a hybridization of democracy, peace and society that contains both liberal and illiberal elements.
