Event

IMPORTANT: This seminar is now full. Sign-ups after noon on the 12th of August will therefore not be registered. You can follow the event live on YouTube.

More than any other European country Russia struggles with the challenge of Radical Islam. Since the Chechen wars and the radicalization of the separatist movement Radical Islam has become a key mode of resistance to Russian rule in the North Caucasus, in particular in the Muslim republics of Dagestan, Ingushetia and Kabardino Balkaria.

In recent years Radical Islam has also spread to the Russian Volga region. A pattern of conflict between clandestine radical milieus and government security agencies can be observed in republics such as Tatarstan and Bashkortostan, sometimes leading to violent incidents.

There are local, country-specific drivers behind the surge of Radical Islam in Russia. At the same time recruitment patterns are often similar to those found in Western Europe. Conversion of young people with diverse ethnic backgrounds through internet-based social networks testifies to the global pattern of mobilisation into Radical Islam.

The merging of local and global drivers of Radical Islam finds a parallel in where fighters join the frontline of Jihad. Today more than 5000 Russian citizens are fighting for the IS in the Middle East.

Bearing in mind the very limited information we get in Norway on issues related to Radical Islam in Russia NUPI is very happy to host two of Russia’s most prominent scholars on these issues during the seminar ‘Radical Islam in Russia: Local and global dimensions ’

Programme 10.30-12.00

Dr. Irina Starodubrovskaya (The Gaidar Institute) will speak on the topic ‘Radical Islam in Russia. Myths and reality’.

Dr. Alexej Malashenko (Carnegie Moscow Center) will speak on the topic ‘Russia in the context of the global Islamist phenomenon’.

Q&A

The seminar will be streamed on YouTube: