ABSTRACT

A key development in Russian-speaking jihadist terrorism was the emergence of the Caucasus Emirate which in 2007 declared jihad on all those who conduct war against Muslims or their religion. In 2013, its leader Umarov proclaimed the Caucasus Emirate’s purpose as being solely one of global jihad. The Caucasus Emirate became a key link between Russian-speaking jihadist terrorism and organized crime. This chapter explains the failure of the ChRI and the origin of the Caucasus Emirate within the ChRI, with its switch in focus from local to global jihad, and how it eventually began to lose ground to the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.