Central Asia drives Syria repatriations to reduce risk

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Direct Link ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Reduce Risk

Subject Central Asian policies on repatriating nationals associated with Middle East insurgency. Significance Central Asian governments' concerns about radicalisation among Muslim-majority populations were amplified when hundreds of nationals went to Syria and Iraq in 2014-15 to join Islamic State (IS) and other jihadist groups. They are prioritising the repatriation of women and children, in contrast to European governments' reluctance to approve blanket returns. Impacts The security drive against local extremists will be sustained across Central Asia. Policies towards returning women will not be affected by IS-attributed attacks unless a direct link is made. In Russia, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is leading on repatriation efforts focused on children.

Islamic State will face obstacles to Afghan relocation

2018 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Large Expansion ◽  
Central Asian Republics

Subject The Islamic State group's ambitions in Afghanistan. Significance In a bid to offset its reverses in Syria and Iraq, Islamic State (IS) is strengthening its Afghan presence with members arriving from abroad to join local recruits. Despite having a presence in Afghanistan since 2015, IS has not achieved the swift and large expansion it saw in the Middle East as it is competing with the long-established Taliban. Impacts If IS grows stronger in northern Afghanistan, it might revive plans to infiltrate Central Asian republics. Differences on how to deal with IS will divide the Taliban leadership. Russia and Iran will engage with parts of the Taliban and encourage them to fight IS.

Prospects for Central Asia in 2016

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
World Bank ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The World ◽  
State Group ◽  
The Imf

Subject Prospects for Central Asia in 2016. Significance In October, both the World Bank and the IMF downgraded Central Asia's economic growth outlook for 2016. The previous month, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan had signalled the rising influence of extremist organisations, first and foremost the Islamic State group (ISG) across the region. Central Asian regimes are faced with a multitude of risks, including political destabilisation.

Central Asian Women as Agents of Political Violence in the Islamic State

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatyana Dronzina ◽  
Ilya Roubanis
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Controversial Subject ◽  
Humanitarian Operations ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Central Asian Countries

The investigation, charge, prosecution, and rehabilitation of female terrorists is a controversial subject because patriarchal values widely drive the context of jihadi violence. Thousands of women made their way from over 80 countries worldwide to the Islamic State realms in Syria and Iraq, with Central Asia accounting for 20 per cent of this migration. As the forces of ISIS were retreating – and even before – Central Asian countries were keen to repatriate women and children from Syria and Iraq. In contrast to Western Europe, public opinion was supportive of these humanitarian operations. This study is informed by the debriefing of approximately fifty of these women, in a context in which they have already faced the legal repercussions for “joining” the ranks of ISIS. The women interviewed hail from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan; it is clear women left an overwhelmingly patriarchal context to find a dehumanisingly misogynistic jihadi society. Their agency as second-class ISIS “citizens” needs to be systematically explored to inform effective counterterrorism strategy, be it profiling, legislation, preemptive intervention and rehabilitation policies.

Current security concerns of Europe: radicali-zation in Central Asia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga Novikova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Natural Factor ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Communist Ideology ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Western Values ◽  
Islam And Secularism

The purpose of the paper is to track processes of radicalization in Central Asia (CA) leading to acts of terrorism in Europe and to show the Western approach to the multiple drivers for violent extremism in СА. The revival of Islam throughout the region was a natural factor, as it filled the ideological vacuum formed after the collapse of the communist ideology, and the radicalization of Muslims could not be a consequence of these processes. Western scholars are viewing the efforts of the CA governments to counter radicalization and violent extremism through the lens of the «Western values» framing them in human-rights terms. The authoritarian states of Central Asia do monitor the activities of all religious groups and individuals but the author is sure that such religious restrictions cannot lead to violent extremism in Central Asia. The conflict is not between Islam and secularism, the real dispute unfolds within Islam: the traditional faith opposes radical brands of Islam. The governments of Central Asian states are not opposed to Islam per se, but rather to radical, politicized Islam, which serves as a framework for political opposition. Hundreds of Central Asian citizens travelled to the Middle East to support Al-Qaeda and Islamic State. The populations most at risk of radicalization are residents of the border regions of the CA states, ethnic minorities, youth, migrants, divorced women and orphans. Geographic proximity of the region to Afghanistan also matters. Now the exodus to wage jihad in the Middle East or in Afghanistan is not an immediate threat, but it should be borne in mind that the surviving IS fighters are returning to Europe, Central Asia and Russia.

Problems of military-political interaction between the countries of the West and Central Asia at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries

2020 ◽  
pp. 27-33
Author(s):  
Boris G. Koybaev
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Military Bases ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
The West ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Western Influence ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Political Interaction ◽  
The Military

Central Asia in recent history is a vast region with five Muslim States-new actors in modern international relations. The countries of Central Asia, having become sovereign States, at the turn of the XX–XXI centuries are trying to peaceful interaction not only with their underdeveloped neighbors, but also with the far-off prosperous West. At the same time, the United States and Western European countries, in their centrosilic ambitions, seek to increase their military and political presence in Central Asia and use the military bases of the region’s States as a springboard for supplying their troops during anti-terrorist and other operations. With the active support of the West, the Central Asian States were accepted as members of the United Nations. For monitoring and exerting diplomatic influence on the regional environment, the administration of the President of the Russian Federation H. W. Bush established U.S. embassies in all Central Asian States. Turkey, a NATO member and secular Islamic state, was used as a lever of indirect Western influence over Central Asian governments, and its model of successful development was presented as an example to follow.

Combatting organised crime and terrorism in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma van Santen
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Explanatory Power ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
The State ◽  
State Crime ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Terrorist Groups

Purpose This paper aims to examine the shift away from the traditional distinction between organised crime and terrorist groups towards their conceptual convergence under the crime-terror nexus narrative in the context of international security and development policy in post-Soviet Central Asia. It assesses the empirical basis for the crime-terror and state-crime nexus in three Central Asian countries – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and argues that the exclusion of the state from the analytical framework undermines the relevance of the crime-terror paradigm for policy-making. Design/methodology/approach This paper draws on a literature review of academic research, recent case studies highlighting new empirical evidence in Central Asia and international policy publications. Findings There is a weak empirical connection between organised crime and Islamic extremists, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan and Hizbut Tahrir, in Central Asia. The state-crime paradigm, including concepts of criminal capture, criminal sovereignty and criminal penetration, hold more explanatory power for international policy in Central Asia. The crime-terror paradigm has resulted in a narrow and ineffective security-oriented law enforcement approach to counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism but does not address the underlying weak state governance structures and political grievances that motivate organised crime and terrorist groups respectively. Originality/value International policy and scholarship is currently focussed on the areas of convergence between organised crime and terrorist groups. This paper highlights the continued relevance of the traditional conceptual separation of terrorist and organised crime groups based on their different motives, methods and relationship with the state, for security and democratic governance initiatives in the under-researched Central Asian region.

Most Central Asian states are comfortable with Taliban

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Heroin Trafficking ◽  
Central Asian Republics

Significance The Taliban victory creates threats and some opportunities for Central Asian republics, three of which -- Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan -- border on Afghanistan. All except Tajikistan have indicated they will work with the new Afghan authorities. Impacts Russia and Central Asian states, except Tajikistan up to a point, will not back anti-Taliban resistance groups. Weak Afghan governance creates more scope for heroin trafficking through Central Asia. Although China is the more important economic player in Central Asia, it will defer to Russia on security matters.

ISG is unlikely to infiltrate refugee flows to Europe

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Group ◽  
Foreign Fighters ◽  
The Eu ◽  
Inter State ◽  
Security Crises

Subject ISG infiltration of refugee flows. Significance Refugee arrivals in Europe in 2016, large if not at 2015 levels, will put yet more pressure on the EU, which is already struggling to address economic crises, political polarisation and inter-state divisions on how to address security crises in Ukraine and the Middle East. Suspicions have grown that among the refugees are operatives of the Islamic State group (ISG). Impacts ISG's foreign fighters in Iraq and Syria will seek to expand their relationships with existing extremist networks in Europe. Speculation over ISG's presence within refugee flows will continue, especially as far-right parties continue to perform well in elections. The EU-Turkey deal may slow refugee flows, but the existing numbers of refugees will continue to attract suspicion from authorities.

After Islamic State, Middle East fissures will deepen

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Islamic State ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle East Conflict ◽  
Local Support ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Recent Attack

Significance The salafi-jihadist group has lost almost all the territory it formerly held in Iraq and Syria. The recent attack on a mosque in Egypt’s Sinai also significantly reduced its local support. Arabic-language media are already looking to the next stages of Middle East conflict. Impacts The negative impact of IS losing its Raqqa propaganda centre on its efforts to control the narrative will be temporary. Following IS's loss of the Syria-Iraq border, Arabic press focus on the confrontation between Iran and US-linked forces will rise. The disappearance of IS as a territorial threat will likely increase divisions among Middle Eastern states.

Central Asian states face high climate change risks

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Irrigation Canals ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Climate Change Responses ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Climate Change Risks ◽  
The World ◽  
Summer Temperatures ◽  
International Climate

Subject Climate change in Central Asia. Significance As the Central Asian states emerge from months of sweltering summer temperatures, attention is increasingly turning to the effects of climate change. In a region always short of rainfall and dependent on glacier-fed rivers, rising global temperatures look set to have deeper and swifter impacts than in many other parts of the world. Impacts International climate change responses will have limited impacts on Central Asian specifics. Regional structures may become more effective as the situation's urgency becomes apparent. One part-solution involves repairing irrigation canals to reduce massive leakage.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document