Blood revenge and violent mobilization: evidence from the Chechen Wars

Despite a considerable amount of ethnographic research into the phenomena of blood revenge and blood feud, little is known about the role of blood revenge in political violence, armed conflict, and irregular war. Yet blood revenge—widespread among many conflict-affected societies of the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond—is not confined to the realm of communal infighting, as previous research has presumed. An empirical analysis of Russia's two counterinsurgency campaigns in Chechnya suggests that the practice of blood revenge has functioned as an important mechanism in encouraging violent mobilization in the local population against the Russian troops and their Chechen proxies. The need to exact blood revenge has taken precedence over an individual's political views, or lack thereof. Triggered by the loss of a relative or humiliation, many apolitical Chechens who initially sought to avoid involvement in the hostilities or who had been skeptical of the insurgency mobilized to exact blood revenge to restore their individual and clan honor. Blood revenge functions as an effective, yet heavily underexplored, grievance-based mechanism encouraging violent mobilization in irregular wars

Asymmetry of values, indigenous forces, and incumbent success in counterinsurgency: evidence from Chechnya

This article fills the gap in existing scholarship on asymmetric conflict, indigenous forces, and how socio-cultural codes shape the dynamics and outcomes of conflict transformation. Specifically, it identifies three key socio-cultural values commonplace in honorific societies: retaliation, hospitality, and silence. As sources of effective pro-insurgent violent mobilisation and support from among the local population, these values provide insurgents with an asymmetric advantage over much stronger incumbents. Using the case studies of the two Russian counterinsurgencies in Chechnya, the article shows the mechanisms on the ground through which Moscow’s deployment of indigenous forces against insurgents helped to stem the tide of conflict, reversing the insurgents’ initial advantage in terms of asymmetry of values

Defected and loyal? A case study of counter-defection mechanisms inside Chechen paramilitaries

Can former insurgents in the service of counterinsurgent paramilitaries be considered a perfectly loyal force? What mechanisms may help to deter subsequent defections of individuals who have already “betrayed” once? Drawing on a unique set of primary data, this article examines the effective counter-defection practices of Chechnya’s pro-Moscow paramilitaries toward prospective defectors from among ex-insurgents. It explores three interwoven mechanisms employed with various intensities to avert “double defections” at the peak of the locally fought counterinsurgency in Chechnya from 2000 to 2005. These mechanisms are: a) extrajudicial executions of recidivists and their relatives, b) initiation violence targeting insurgents’ relatives, and c) disclosure of the identities of defected insurgents who were responsible for killing insurgents in combat to the families of slain insurgents

Why de facto states fail? Lessons from Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

This study seeks to improve our understanding of the causes leading to failure of de facto states. In contrast to the voluminous body of literature on sovereign state failure, the process of de facto state failure remains under-researched. Drawing upon the existing research on state failure and de facto statehood, we narrow down our theoretical explanations to a set of causes related to civil conflict, tribalism, and economic crisis. More specifically, we aim to examine the effects of tribalism, warlordism, ideological fractionalization, and economic deficiencies on the collapse and failure of de facto entities. We employ a case study of the interwar Chechen Republic of Ichkeria (1996–1999) to demonstrate how the above-detailed factors contributed toward the collapse of a de facto state

Ethnicity and conflict severity: accounting for the effect of co-ethnic and non-ethnic militias on battlefield lethality

How does the presence of armed pro-regime groups affect conflict lethality? This study examines the relationship between ethnicity, militia violence and conflict lethality in civil wars. We emphasise that differences in whether pro-regime militias were recruited in accordance with their ethnicity or not are critical in their influence upon conflict lethality, which we estimate in battlefield deaths. To that end, we categorise militias into groups recruited on their ethnic basis (co-ethnic militias) and those recruited regardless of their ethnicity (non-ethnic militias). We hypothesise that conflicts are more lethal when non-ethnic militias are involved. We link higher number of battle-deaths in conflicts with non-ethnic militias with the militia use of one-sided violence against civilians. Co-ethnic militias – that is militias recruited from the same ethnicity as rebels – are deployed amongst their co-ethnics and therefore tend to target civilians less than non-ethnic militias. This militia–civilian relationship has direct impact on conflict severity. To test our hypotheses we conduct global statistical analysis of 84 intrastate conflicts from 1989 to 2014

Unrecognized states as a means of coercive diplomacy? Assessing the role of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Russia’s foreign policy in the South Caucasus

The scholarship on unrecognized or de facto states has been booming in the recent decades exploring this phenomenon from a variety of perspectives. Yet, as this article illustrates, a crucial accent on the instrumentalization of unrecognized states by regional actors – or, to put it differently, on unrecognized states as a source of coercive diplomacy – has been neglected. This article seeks to fill that gap by offering an empirical analysis of Russia’s instrumentalization of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as unrecognized states as a means of putting effective pressure on the Government in Tbilisi – usually with respect to issues unrelated to the unrecognized states themselves. More specifically, this article shows that Moscow has used three instruments (military deployment, passportization of residents of the unrecognized states and responsibility to protect)

Fighting against Jihad? Blood revenge and anti-insurgent mobilization in Jihadist civil wars

Previous studies have shown that many recent Jihadist insurgencies differ from other types of civil wars due to their high levels of civilian victimization and their incidence among tribal and honorific societies. We argue that these characteristics of Jihadist wars may have an effect on anti-rebel mobilization among the local population. Notwithstanding the importance of political and sectarian motives, brutal violence against civilians frequently ignites cycles of blood feuds in societies still abiding by customary traditional laws. We argue that excessive violence against civilians that facilitates blood revenge should not be overlooked as one of the primary causes of anti-rebel mobilization in Jihadist civil wars. We draw our empirical insights by examining how and why local population mobilized against Jihadist insurgents during civil wars in Chechnya. Our findings based on unique interviews with both participants and non-participants of Chechen conflicts in the 1990s and the early 2000s illustrate that both excessive civilian victimization by Jihadist rebels and ensuing cycles of blood revenge functioned as robust anti-insurgent mobilization mechanisms

Ideology and disengagement: a case study of nationalists and Islamists in Chechnya

Disengagement from militant groups has often been related to individual level explanations like battle fatigue or desire to re-join family and friends. We seek to empirically examine which other factors, beyond individual level determinants, influenced disengagement processes among militants belonging to different types of Chechen militant organizations. Drawing empirical insights from unique in-depth interviews with former members of Chechen insurgency, their relatives, eyewitnesses of Chechen wars, and experts with first-hand knowledge of the researched phenomena, this study examines disengagement among jihadist and nationalist Chechen militants. Focusing on group-level factors, such as capacity to resist external pressures, use of violence, in-group social bonds and group cohesion, this article demonstrates that disengagement was a less viable course of action for Chechen jihadists than for nationalist militants

Decreased soluble cell adhesion molecules after tirofiban infusion in patients with unstable angina pectoris

AIM: The inflammatory response, initiated by neutrophil and monocyte adhesion to endothelial cells, is important in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndromes. Platelets play an important role in inflammatory process by interacting with monocytes and neutrophils. In this study, we investigated the effect of tirofiban on the levels of cell adhesion molecules (soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, sICAM-1, and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, sVCAM-1) in patients with unstable angina pectoris (AP). METHODS: Thirty-five patients with unstable AP (Group I), ten patients with stable AP (Group II) and ten subjects who had angiographycally normal coronary arteries (Group III) were included the study. Group I was divided into two subgroups for the specific treatment regimens: Group IA (n = 15) received tirofiban and Group IB (n = 20) did not. Blood samples for investigating the cell adhesion molecules were drawn at zero time (baseline; 0 h) in all patients and at 72 h in Group I. RESULTS: The baseline levels of sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 were higher in Group I than in Groups II and III. They were higher in Group IA than in Group IB. However, the sICAM-1 and sVCAM-1 levels decreased significantly in Group IA after tirofiban infusion. In contrast, these levels remained unchanged or were increased above the baseline value in Group IB at 72 h. CONCLUSION: The levels of cell adhesion molecules in patients with unstable AP decreased significantly after tirofiban infusion. Inhibition of platelet function by specific glycoprotein IIb/IIIa antagonists may decrease platelet-mediated inflammation and the ischemic end-point

Cardiac thrombi in a patient with protein-C and S deficiencies: a case report

We report a case of multiple mobile intra-cardiac thrombi accompanying recurrent pulmonary embolism that has been successfully treated by fibrinolytic therapy. Control transesophageal echocardiographic examination showed that prolonged thrombolytic treatment completely removed the thrombi. Surgical removal of emboli has been validated but cannot be proposed to all patients since it is a high-risk intervention. Fibrinolysis is generally efficient but exposes the patient to risk of migration of the intra-cavity thrombus, with occasionally deleterious evolution. Systemic thrombolytic therapy is usually recommended if (a) it is not contraindicated and (b) the thrombi are demonstrated in more than one cardiac chamber, entailing a higher risk of surgical intervention. However, the infusion rate and duration of thrombolytic therapy are important determinants of successful and uncomplicated lysis. Low dose and long infusion time should be chosen to avoid fragmentation of the thrombus and related complications. © 2004 Ercan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd