Jihadist violence in the North Caucasus: political, social and economic factors

TY - CHAP

T1 - Jihadist violence in the North Caucasus

T2 - political, social and economic factors

AU - Sagramoso, Domitilla

AU - Yarlykapov, Akhmet

PY - 2020/3/13

Y1 - 2020/3/13

N2 - The violence in the North Caucasus underwent a significant evolution over the past decades, as a separatist and nationalist movement based in the republic of Chechnya turned into a network of extremist Islamist jihadists, which took root in many of the other Muslim republics of the region. Although Chechnya provided an ideological and logistic basis for the development of such networks, the various jihadist jamaʽats (communities) developed primarily in response to homegrown grievances and local circumstances. This chapter argues that the origins and the intricacies of the violence that spread to the North Caucasus are only partially related to the spread of extremist Islamist ideologies and separatist aspirations. Other underlying factors, such as the perpetuation of discredited and corrupt ruling elites, the persistence of severe economic hardship, youth unemployment and social alienation, and the absence of proper and effective channels of political expression are also driving the violence.

AB - The violence in the North Caucasus underwent a significant evolution over the past decades, as a separatist and nationalist movement based in the republic of Chechnya turned into a network of extremist Islamist jihadists, which took root in many of the other Muslim republics of the region. Although Chechnya provided an ideological and logistic basis for the development of such networks, the various jihadist jamaʽats (communities) developed primarily in response to homegrown grievances and local circumstances. This chapter argues that the origins and the intricacies of the violence that spread to the North Caucasus are only partially related to the spread of extremist Islamist ideologies and separatist aspirations. Other underlying factors, such as the perpetuation of discredited and corrupt ruling elites, the persistence of severe economic hardship, youth unemployment and social alienation, and the absence of proper and effective channels of political expression are also driving the violence.

U2 - 10.4324/9781351055628

DO - 10.4324/9781351055628

M3 - Chapter

SN - 9781138483187

SP - 273

EP - 287

BT - The Routledge Handbook of the Caucasus

A2 - Yemelianova, Galina M.

A2 - Broers, Laurence

PB - Routledge

ER -