The Organized Crime-Terrorism Nexus in Post-Soviet Chechnya

Abstract

This article deals with the nexus between organized crime and terrorism in the region of post-Soviet Chechnya, and the primary goal is to show the connection between the phenomenon of organized crime and non-state armed actors who are generally labelled as terrorists. As a framework for the analysis, we chose the “Crime-Terror Nexus” typology of Tamara Makarenko. As organized crime and terrorism are interconnected in Chechnya, the organized crime groups in post-Soviet Chechnya usually employ terrorist tactics (and vice versa) for operational purposes. However, in some periods we can find examples of a strong convergence in which criminal and terrorist organizations could merge into a single entity that initially displays characteristics of both types of groups simultaneously. The article also shows that it is very difficult to categorize some Chechen actors, especially those involved in terrorist activities.