Authors

Discussion

Between 2007 and 2015, the Caucasus Emirate (Imarat Kavkaz, IK) served as an umbrella movement uniting insurgents across Russia’s North Caucasus. Although various aspects of the insurgency have been examined in depth, the ideology of the IK and its place in the broader landscape of jihadism remains understudied and frequently misunderstood, with consequences for how we interpret the legacy of the movement and the potential future trajectory of conflict. Presenting the conclusions from my forthcoming book ‘The Caucasus Emirate: Ideology, identity and insurgency in Russia’s North Caucasus,’I will outline what IK leaders claimed to be fighting for and against, how they sought to mobilise people behind their cause, and how the ideas underpinning armed struggle varied and evolved across time and space. I show how the movement’s priorities and external relationships responded to changing circumstances, and I demonstrate that insurgent leaders devoted more effort to shaping local identities than articulating political programs or strategies but ultimately failed to forge a common basis for resistance. Rethinking the relationship between ideology and identity compels us to reconsider the legacy of the IK as a movement and the role of jihadism in the North Caucasus.