Russia’s System to Combat Terrorism and Its Application in Chechnya

Abstract

This chapter identifies and analyses the major changes in Russia’s organizational response to terrorism since the September 2004 hostage-taking drama in Beslan. The chapter examines the benefits and disadvantages of the newly-established National Counter-Terrorism Committee and logically extends current trends shaping the federal counter-terrorism hierarchy into the near future where possible. The chapter then describes how Russia's counter-terrorism policies, which are formulated in the Kremlin, are applied on the ground in Chechnya, which remains the testing ground for most of the new counter-terrorism initiatives that Russian authorities adopt. The chapter concludes with a number of general recommendations on how to address the flaws within the existing system.