Fighting against Jihad? Blood Revenge and Anti-Insurgent Mobilization in Jihadist Civil Wars

Abstract

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.