Jasutis, Grazvydas
2014
Armed Violence in Dagestan: The Role of the Caucasus Emirate
Journal of Global Peace and Conflict
2
1
85-102
The article explores the role of the Caucasus emirate in shaping security issues in Dagestan. It focuses on its recent personnel changes and the indicators of violence. The first part of the article methodologically analyzes the concept of violence and pinpoints its indicators - armed attacks, combat deaths, civilians deaths and political-religious assassinations. The second part is concentrated on the structure and functioning of the Caucasus emirate which is hierarchically based. A special attention is given to its military element which operates autonomously at jamaats level. The third part applies the indicators of violence within the case of Dagestan and forecasts the trend of violence. The article is based on primary and secondary sources including the main website of the insurgency in the North Caucasus and the comments received from the regional experts. The article concludes that the structure of the Caucasus emirate remains ramshackle and its military element does not necessarily obey the principles of chain of command undermining its credibility and efficiency. It will imperil temporally Dagestan however their relative success depends on subjective and objective factors such as ability to ensure the current operational tempo, to generate external support for the insurgency, to communicate with the Chechen Diaspora, to establish unquestionable control over regional emirs which remains the most baffling puzzle.
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