How Socio-Cultural Codes Shaped Violent Mobilization and Pro-Insurgent Support in the Chechen Wars

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-viii

   PDF

2. Foreword

   • Emil Aslan Souleimanov, Huseyn Aliyev

   Pages 1-6

3. Introduction

   • Emil Aslan Souleimanov, Huseyn Aliyev

   Pages 7-29

4. Chechnya: Ethnography and History

   • Emil Aslan Souleimanov, Huseyn Aliyev

   Pages 31-44

5. The Case Study

   • Emil Aslan Souleimanov, Huseyn Aliyev

   Pages 45-56

6. Conclusion

   • Emil Aslan Souleimanov, Huseyn Aliyev

   Pages 57-68

7. Back Matter

   Pages 69-79

   PDF

This book argues that the existing scholarship on asymmetric conflict has so far failed to take into account the role of socio-cultural disparities among belligerents. In order to remedy this deficiency, this study conceptualizes socio-cultural asymmetry under the term of asymmetry of values. It proposes that socio-cultural values which are based upon the codes of retaliation, silence, and hospitality – values which are intrinsic to honor cultures, yet absent from modern institutionalized cultures – may significantly affect violent mobilization and pro-insurgent support in that they facilitate recruitment into and support for insurgent groups, while denying such support to incumbent forces. Utilizing Russia's counterinsurgency campaigns in the First and Second Chechnya Wars as an empirical case study, this study explains how asymmetry of values can have an effect on the dynamics of contemporary irregular wars.

• Chechnya
• Violent mobilisation
• Insurgency
• Irregular war
• Honor cultures
• russian and post-soviet politics

“Excellent, innovative, and thought-provoking study on the Chechen Wars.” (Caspar ten Dam, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 33 (6), 2021) “This pathbreaking study not only amplifies our understanding of Russia's ongoing wars in Chechnya and the North Caucasus, but also pioneers an important and heavily under-researched perspective on how socio-cultural codes shape violent mobilization and pro-insurgent support in insurgencies and counterinsurgencies fought in honorific societies. This should be a must read for anyone wishing to understand the socio-cultural foundations of insurgency and counterinsurgency in general and in Russia's North Caucasus in particular.” (Stephen Blank, Senior Fellow for Russia, American Foreign Policy Council) 

“Souleimanov and Aliyev’s book is the first of its kind to offer a micro-level analysis on the role of socio-cultural values in insurgencies. This detailed presentation of the socio-cultural codes of retaliation, silence, and hospitality in Chechen Wars is a must read not only for researchers in area studies, but also for anyone interested in armed conflict dynamics and the socio-cultural aspects of insurgencies.” (Julie Wilhelmsen, Senior Research Fellow, Norwegian Institute of International Affairs)

• Department of Security Studies, Institute of Political Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

  Emil Aslan Souleimanov

• Center for Security Studies, Metropolitan University of Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

  Huseyn Aliyev

Emil Aslan Souleimanov is Associate Professor of International Area Studies at Charles University, Czech Republic. His recent work focuses on the micro-dynamics of violence and political ethnography with emphasis on Russia’s North Caucasus.

Huseyn Aliyev is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Center for Security Studies of Metropolitan University Prague. His current research interests are civil wars and extra-state armed groups, as well as informal politics and institutions. 

Policies and ethics