Countering Radicalization in the North Caucasus Implementation and Challenges

Abstract

By the mid-2010s, a significant decrease in the number of jihadists in the North Caucasus, in addition to internal ideological differences, was facilitated by fundamental factors: the lack of mass support in local Muslim communities, the anti-terrorism activities of the state, its informational and ideological support, and the policy of post-conflict integration. The number of supporters of the Caucasus Emirate decreased due to the split after the 2014 Olympics in Sochi; in 2015, the Caucasus Emirate officially ceased its activities, and after 2017, the flow of radical Islamists leaving Russia and joining ISIS stopped—violent extremism has begun to de-escalate in the region. To reduce ethnoreligious extremism and strengthen the integration of Muslims into Russian society, the federal government adopted a multi-level deradicalization strategy, including anti-terrorism operations and a large-scale policy of co-optation and support for moderate Russian Muslim leaders and their traditional communities.