From Russia with War: Interview Transcripts, 2022

Aliyev, Huseyn (2024). From Russia with War: Interview Transcripts, 2022. [Data Collection]. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Service. 10.5255/UKDA-SN-857364

Foreign fighters are individuals who choose to participate in armed conflicts occurring outside their countries of residence. Over the last decade, the post-Soviet region has served as a key supplier of foreign fighters for armed conflicts in the Middle East and across the former Soviet Union. The former Soviet Union, which includes Russian Federation, the Caucasus and Central Asian regions, supplied more foreign fighters to the Middle East than any other region of the world, including the Middle East itself.

Although there has been little research done on foreign fighters in the context of the former Soviet Union, existing scholarly works echo mass media statements and the reports by international organisations in that post-Soviet foreign fighters are viewed as primarily driven by religious and political motivations. Most of these claims are based on the analysis of secondary sources and random interviews with conflict witnesses. No comprehensive fieldwork-based projects were ever conducted to understand what effect do sociocultural traditions, perceived repressions and opportunities have on foreign fighter mobilisation in the former Soviet Union.

Years of preliminary exploratory research and a number of smaller pilot projects have led the research team to believe that post-Soviet foreign fighters mobilise not necessarily due to religious fervour or political ideology, but due to a complex combination of socio-cultural and constructivist causes. During our preliminary research, notions of honour, solidarity, obligation and culturally embedded customary laws emerge as instrumental in individuals’ choices to participate in armed conflicts abroad.

In order to provide a definitive answer as to which factors can account for the high rates of foreign fighter mobilisation in the post-Soviet region, we propose developing a theory which will seek to demonstrate that individuals choose to become foreign fighters not necessarily due to their religion or political views, but also owing to sociocultural traditions, their perceptions of persecution and opportunities available to disengage from armed groups. To test that theory we will conduct original interview-based fieldwork amongst active, former, and aspiring foreign fighters in Ukraine, Russian Federation, and amongst Chechen Diaspora in Western Europe. To better understand the process of foreign fighter mobilisation and reasons behind it, we will sample widely individuals who chose to become foreign fighters in order to record their opinions and experiences.

This original and interdisciplinary research project will be the first ever fieldwork-based effort to study foreign fighters in the former Soviet Union. Innovative research methods combining different ethnographic approaches will be used to carry out interviews with informants. Bearing in mind that project data can inform and improve the current understanding of radicalisation causes, the project findings will have major implications for de-radicalisation, conflict de-escalation and national security across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

Data description (abstract)

'From Russia with War' is a collaborative research project that draws on years of pilot studies on violent mobilisation of non-state armed groups by research team members from the University of Glasgow, University of Ottawa, and Charles University Prague. This interdisciplinary research project combines the research team members’ joint experience of conducting high-risk ethnographic fieldwork amongst former and active members of armed groups in order to provide an in-depth explanation as to why individuals mobilise to become foreign fighters in the context of the former Soviet Union. (2023-02-13).

Foreign fighters are individuals who choose to participate in armed conflicts occurring outside their countries of residence. Over the last decade, the post-Soviet region has served as a key supplier of foreign fighters for armed conflicts in the Middle East and across the former Soviet Union. The former Soviet Union, which includes Russian Federation, the Caucasus and Central Asian regions, supplied more foreign fighters to the Middle East than any other region of the world, including the Middle East itself.

Although there has been little research done on foreign fighters in the context of the former Soviet Union, existing scholarly works echo mass media statements and the reports by international organisations in that post-Soviet foreign fighters are viewed as primarily driven by religious and political motivations. Most of these claims are based on the analysis of secondary sources and random interviews with conflict witnesses. No comprehensive fieldwork-based projects were ever conducted to understand what effect do sociocultural traditions, perceived repressions and opportunities have on foreign fighter mobilisation in the former Soviet Union.

Years of preliminary exploratory research and a number of smaller pilot projects have led the research team to believe that post-Soviet foreign fighters mobilise not necessarily due to religious fervour or political ideology, but due to a complex combination of socio-cultural and constructivist causes. During our preliminary research, notions of honour, solidarity, obligation and culturally embedded customary laws emerge as instrumental in individuals’ choices to participate in armed conflicts abroad.

In order to provide a definitive answer as to which factors can account for the high rates of foreign fighter mobilisation in the post-Soviet region, we propose developing a theory which will seek to demonstrate that individuals choose to become foreign fighters not necessarily due to their religion or political views, but also owing to sociocultural traditions, their perceptions of persecution and opportunities available to disengage from armed groups. To test that theory we will conduct original interview-based fieldwork amongst active, former, and aspiring foreign fighters in Ukraine, Russian Federation, and amongst Chechen Diaspora in Western Europe. To better understand the process of foreign fighter mobilisation and reasons behind it, we will sample widely individuals who chose to become foreign fighters in order to record their opinions and experiences.

This original and interdisciplinary research project will be the first ever fieldwork-based effort to study foreign fighters in the former Soviet Union. Innovative research methods combining different ethnographic approaches will be used to carry out interviews with informants. Bearing in mind that project data can inform and improve the current understanding of radicalisation causes, the project findings will have major implications for de-radicalisation, conflict de-escalation and national security across Europe, Middle East and Asia.

One of the main objectives of this study is to make a major scholarly contribution towards research on violent mobilisation and individual (micro-level) participation in armed conflict. Bearing in mind the scarcity of fieldwork-based studies on foreign fighter mobilisation, this project will be a major addition to the existing research on foreign fighters. Since this project is the first scholarly effort to collect primary data on foreign fighter in the former Soviet Union, it will provide scholars of armed conflicts with essential new empirical data. Both theoretical and empirical findings of this project will be of primary interest for researchers of conflict and security studies, as well as broader scholarly audiences in disciplines as diverse as anthropology, sociology, history, political science and social psychology.

Alongside its scholarly contribution, this research project’s findings will be of particular interest for practitioners of deradicalization, peace-building and post-conflict integration, working for both international organisations and national governments, as well as for civil society. Since many current deradicalization programmes and social integration schemes in Europe, Middle East and Asia are heavily focused on prevention and pre-emption of radicalism, terrorism and extremism, examination of foreign fighter mobilisation causes will provide essential insights necessary to inform de-radicalization and social reintegration policies. More specifically, this research project will offer to practitioners, and the organisations that they work with, access to its interview data and its policy-relevant summaries of results, which could be used for further research or to inform future policies.

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