HOMO JIHADICUS

While the threats originating from the Jihadists fighting in the Middle East,
and Islamic State itself, are minor, both of these factors will play a certain political
role in the post-Soviet area. Similarly as in the case of the IMU, the above
issues will be held up as a bogeyman by the region’s authoritarian regimes in
order to strengthen their authority, increase control over society, neutralise
political opponents and combat the Islam which is independent from the government.
They may also serve as a handy tool in Russian geopolitical powerplays
for control of the post-Soviet area (as an explanation for the need for
tighter security ties between particular states and Moscow in the face of the
militant Islam threat). It is even more probable, since already certain Russian
actions, statements from politicians and media propaganda fit into the above
logic (for example raising the issue of alleged threats for Russia stemming from
the Jihadists from the Pankisi Gorge in Georgia fighting in the Middle East) 214 .
PRACE OSW REPORT OSW 09/2012 09/2015
214
One example of the use of the above issue in Russian propaganda is an article published in
October of 2014 in Nezavisimaya Gazeta, which suggested an array of threats to Russia from
the Islamic State, which in turn was portrayed as being a de facto American project aimed at
Russia: http://www.ng.ru/cis/2014-10-21/1_asia.html
72