Trade-offs between security and civil liberties in Russia's counter-terrorist campaign in 2000–2004

This chapter focuses on Russia’s anti-terrorist campaign in 2000–2004 in order to discern and analyze dynamics in the trade-offs between security and liberties in that period. ² An analysis of these trade-offs in six separate regions of the Russian Federation demonstrates that enhancing the powers of the security apparatus at the expense of liberties in a given region may help reduce the threat of terrorism in the short term, as local agents of terror divert part of their operations to “freer regions.” However, our research indicates that such a strategy eventually backfires at the local level, as suppression of liberties generates political resentment, which is among the root causes of terrorism. ³