Introduction: researching networked insurgencies and foreign fighters in Eurasia

Abstract

Introducing this special issue of Caucasus Survey on networked insurgencies in Eurasia, this article discusses some of the key themes discussed in the issue. We present the case for the networked character of insurgencies in Eurasia, in which distinct insurgent fronts borrow, incorporate and transform ideas, goals and human experiences among themselves in a constantly shifting constellation. We briefly discuss the shifting role of networks and ideology in mediating Caucasian foreign fighter pathways to varying insurgent fronts in Iraq, Syria and Ukraine, the role of religious repression and the securitization of Salafism in security governance as a push factor, and the role and possible security threats that returning foreign fighters could present to their states of origin.