Retaliation in Rebellion: The Missing Link to Explaining Insurgent Violence in Dagestan |
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Authors: | Jean-François Ratelle Emil Aslan Souleimanov |
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Institution: | 1. The Institute for European, Russian &2. Eurasian Studies, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA;3. Institute of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic |
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Abstract: | This article posits that the remnants of archaic sociocultural norms, particularly the honour-imposed custom of retaliation, play a crucial role in the process of insurgent engagement in Russia's autonomous republic of Dagestan. Through a series of interviews with former insurgents, this study outlines two retaliation-centred mechanisms: “individual retaliation” and “spiritual retaliation” in order to explain the microcosm of motives behind insurgent activity in Dagestan. In doing so, this study problematizes the role of Salafi/Jihadist ideology as the main impetus for insurgent violence. Reversing the traditional causal link between violence and religion, this study also demonstrates that the development of Jihadist ideology is a by-product of insurgent mobilization rather than its cause. |
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Keywords: | civil war Dagestan insurgency North Caucasus retaliation Russia |
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