Making Jihad or Making Money? Understanding the Transformation of Dagestan’s Jamaats into Organised Crime Groups |
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Authors: | Emil Aslan Souleimanov |
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Institution: | Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic |
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Abstract: | While terrorist and insurgent groups have often combined anti-state subversion with ‘purely‘ criminal activities in order to obtain the financial means to wage their ideological struggle, little is known about the transformation of such groups into non-ideological organised crime groups (OCG) with close links to authorities. This holds particularly for jihadist groups that have on ideological grounds ruled out collaboration with their archenemies – ‘infidels’ and ‘apostates’. Using unique ethnographic data from Russia’s Dagestan, this article explores the causes and contexts of the gradual transformation of some of Dagestan’s jihadist units – jamaats – into organised crime groups collaborating with local authorities. |
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Keywords: | North Caucasus Terrorism Crime Jihadi Groups Insurgency Financing |
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