BEYOND SYRIA IRAQ

ANNA BORSHCHEVSKAYA
They feel he was unable to build a real Islamic state and instead created a
fundamentally corrupt and abusive one—and this is objectively correct. Feelings
of revenge against the Russian authorities run strong in the region. And
since the locals have little access to information, they easily come to believe
IS offers a real alternative as a state. As one Russian patrol police officer in
Dagestan said, according to a recent Foreign Policy report, “You can see people
are tired of us. You go into the village and you will find lots of angry
widows and sons without fathers. It’s a matter of time before the sons grow
up into fighters.” 6
Until the Russian government fundamentally changes its approach toward
its own citizens, IS, and other radical groups that may come after it, will
continue to enjoy popular support and a pool of recruits to choose from.
Moscow’s harsh measures, more than IS recruitment efforts, are Russia’s real
terrorism problem. It is difficult to see how Putin’s increasingly repressive
government will make any such changes. Russia’s future prospects when it
comes to terrorism are bleak.
NOTES
1. International Crisis Group, The North Caucasus Insurgency and Syria: An Exported
Jihad? Europe Report 238 (Brussels: ICG, 2016), https://www.crisisgroup.org/
europe-central-asia/caucasus/north-caucasus/north-caucasus-insurgency-and-syriaexported-jihad.
2. Imarat Kavkaz/Caucasus Emirate (IHS Jane’s World Insurgency & Terrorism,
2014), https://www.ihs.com/pdf/IHS-Janes-World-Insurg-Terror_Imarat-
Kavkaz_146073110913052132.pdf.
3. International Crisis Group, The North Caucasus: The Challenges of Integration (I),
Ethnicity and Conflict, Europe Report 220 (ICG, 2012), https://www.crisisgroup.
org/europe-central-asia/caucasus/north-caucasus/north-caucasus-challenges-integration-i-ethnicity-and-conflict.
4. The North Caucasus Insurgency and Syria, https://www.crisisgroup.org/europe-central-asia/caucasus/north-caucasus/north-caucasus-insurgency-and-syria-exportedjihad.
5. “Salafis Mustered,” Economist, May 7, 2016, http://www.economist.com/news/
europe/21698111-police-shut-dagestans-salafi-mosques-believers-head-fight-islamic;
and two Russian-language sources from Novaya Gazeta: http://www.novayagazeta.
ru/news/1702447.html and http://www.novayagazeta.ru/society/71184.html.
6. Oliver Carroll, “Cracking Down on Russia’s Caliphate,” Foreign Policy, May 31,
2016, http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/31/cracking-down-on-russias-caliphateislamic-state/.
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