This summarizes the history of modern Chechnya’s human rights situation. It deals specifically with the persecution of minorities on ideological grounds, exploring the cultural background and the motivations of the Chechen ruler, Ramzan Kadyrov. The involvement of the United States in the region in the time surrounding the Cold War exacerbated the ideological opposition to Chechnya’s long-time occupier, Russia. This paper suggests that the ideological opposition to Russia, which is associated with western values in Chechen thought, has led to an increased focus on the modern state’s Islamic roots. It proposes Kadyrov’s attacks on and purges of homosexual men in 2017 and 2018, as well as the country’s broader return to brutal tribal politics, are a result of this increased focus, which was kickstarted by the anti-Russian ideological fighters armed and trained by the United States in Afghanistan in the 1980s.