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Conflict Studies / nota bene
Reference:

Women's Terrorism in the Caucasus

Horbil Pavel

ORCID: 0000-0002-8392-5652

Postgraduate, Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

117198, Russia, Moscow, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6, .

paherono@mail.ru
Korosteleva Elizaveta Igorevna

ORCID: 0000-0002-7594-1214

Postgraduate, Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6, .

liza.korosteleva.99@mail.ru
Raad Feras-Adam

Postgraduate, Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

117198, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Miklukho-Maklaya str., 6, .

ferasss1998@gmail.com

DOI:

10.7256/2454-0617.2023.1.39814

EDN:

IRNPUG

Received:

19-02-2023


Published:

28-02-2023


Abstract: Throughout the history of its existence the phenomenon of terrorism has undergone changes in methods, approaches and means of manifestation, however, in the modern world terrorism is becoming a global threat to humanity. The object of research in this article is female terrorism in the Caucasus. The multinational region of the Caucasus encourages the peoples inhabiting it to fight for independence in order to preserve their identity and the right to self-determination. The article examines in detail the history of terrorism in the Caucasus, the role of women in terrorist activities, identifies the origins of the origin of terrorism during the existence of the Russian Empire, and gives the reasons for the emergence of terrorism in the post-Soviet period on the territory of this region. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the fact that women's terrorism, like any manifestation of terrorist activity, is a difficult to predict threat, and in order to eradicate the problem of terrorism, it is necessary to study it and thereby prevent it. Throughout its history, the Caucasus has always remained one of the most unstable regions and was distinguished by high terrorist activity. This is facilitated by various factors that have led to the widespread development of terrorist activities in the territory of this region. The two initial factors are ethnic and confessional. The scientific novelty of the study is due to the study of women's participation in terrorist activities in the Caucasus region, identifying the reasons for their participation. In this study, the authors used the historical method, as well as the method of situational analysis, which was aimed at finding the relationship of women's participation in terrorist activities in the Caucasus. The article examined Russia and the countries of the Caucasus region: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan. On the basis of a comparative analysis, the article revealed the characteristic features of terrorist activity and the place of female terrorism in the territories of the above-mentioned countries.


Keywords:

Women's terrorism, Terrorism, Caucasus, Post-Soviet studies, Russia, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, North Caucasus, Analysis

This article is automatically translated.

Introduction

Society is a self—organizing, self-developing, self-sufficient social system [13]. Being an integral part of it, the regional order reflects the attributive property of the system to maintain its integrity with a possible change in its characteristics [10]. Thus, the social system and the regional order have one thing in common — to maintain its integrity, while changes within each structure are permissible.

Terrorism can be both a way to change the social system and the regional order. In the first case, this may manifest itself in the form of a revolutionary struggle to change existing social foundations, and the reason for the use of terrorist methods in the second case may be attempts to change the situation in the region.

The versatility of modern political processes, the endless struggle for spheres of influence, the existence of threats of a global nature – all this indicates that international relations are a dynamically developing system, whose actors directly affect not only its complex development, but also the emergence of problems and threats of a global nature.  According to constructivist theory, terrorism is not just a social phenomenon, but its origin is directly related to such cognitive factors as ideological and religious worldviews [7]. Proponents of constructivism believe that ideological and confessional differences, as well as other aspects that have developed within the framework of the historical development of society, can cause conflict for states [13].

This article examines the features of the manifestation of terrorism involving the female population, as well as trends and aspects of the use of gender terrorism.

Let us turn to history and note that we can find more than one confirmation of the revolutionary and terrorist activities of women. For example, for a long time, the actual leader of the Basque group was a woman, and the women's wing of the Zapatista movement in Mexico was controlled by Comandante Ramona. And if such participation of women in left-wing radical organizations can be explained by the rise of movements fighting for feminist ideas, then in the case of the Caucasus, female separatism arises due to the same gender inequality, but rather is explained not by the struggle of women for their rights, but by their discrimination and the use of women as a tool in the struggle for ideological views.

In Russia, terrorism emerged as a method of revolution and the liberation struggle of the people, similar to the approach promoted by Carlo Pisacane, arguing that the use of violence is necessary not only to attract public attention or publicize ideas, but for the sake of education, education and, finally, rallying the people in the name of revolution [15]. In the Russian Empire, Narodnaya Volya and the Party of Socialist Revolutionaries were organizations that carried out terrorist acts, guided by the principles of Pisacane. In imperial times, all terrorist acts were based on revolutionary ideas, which were mainly manifested by socio-revolutionary terrorism [8].

According to O. Budnitsky, one of the inspirers of the creators of the terrorist organization Narodnaya Volya, which later killed the Russian Emperor Alexander II, was Vera Zasulich, the first Russian terrorist who shot at the St. Petersburg mayor F. F. Trepov and was acquitted by a jury. In addition, O. Budnitsky believes that women participated in the preparation of terrorist acts on an equal basis with men, citing the example of Sofia Perovskaya, who led the preparations for the murder of the Russian ruler; Vera Figner, who participated in almost all terrorist acts; Maria Kutitonskaya, who attempted to assassinate the governor of Transbaikalia and Maria Kalyuzhnaya, who shot at the head of the gendarmerie department in Odessa and a participant in the Kariya tragedy [5].

The Party of Socialist Revolutionaries (SRS) considered itself the successor of the "People's Will". Even before the beginning of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907, the SRS carried out 233 terrorist operations [8], after the number of terrorist attacks decreased, but still the party continued to exist, remaining a demonstration of disagreement with the existing form of power. The legitimization of the party and its manifestation in the newly formed parliament (the State Duma) became one of the reasons for the growth of popularity among the population of the empire.

In the North Caucasus, as in other regions, local authorities were afraid to inform the local population about the February Revolution immediately, as they feared their reaction, which could lead to chaos. However, the changes still affected this region. Already at the beginning of the Civil War, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federal Republic was proclaimed, which then split into Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. It is worth noting that during the delimitation of borders, some territorial issues between the countries were not resolved, which leads to their actualization at the present stage. After the establishment of Soviet power in the region, disagreements between peoples periodically manifested themselves and separatist movements existed. In addition, ethnic differences also arose in the North Caucasus, which was part of the RSFSR. Unresolved ethnic conflicts, the deportation of peoples from their homelands to other parts of the Soviet Union and Soviet propaganda of atheism became prerequisites for the radicalization of the Caucasian population, which subsequently led to an increase in terrorist threats, which we will discuss in more detail later.

The Caucasus region is still considered one of the most unstable. Due to the ethnic and confessional diversity, the region becomes a point of collision of views of various groups of the population. Pursuing the goal of disorganizing society, terrorist groups find the Caucasus region as an object of their subversive activities.

It is worth noting that radical Islamism is widely developed in the region, which determines the predominant type of terrorism in the Caucasus and the nature of terrorist attacks.

The first wave of terrorist acts in the Caucasus region occurred in the period from 1985 to 1991, which was due to political instability between the republics and the clash of their interests. The territorial claims of Armenia and Azerbaijan to Nagorno-Karabakh have led to the escalation of the conflict and the use of terrorist acts to solve it. The 1988 conflict over South Ossetia and Abkhazia led the Georgian SSR to regional instability and the use of various methods of terrorist activity on its territory.

These territories became the site of a significant number of terrorist acts and pushed other Soviet republics to the idea of separatism and secession. Thus, the last years of the existence of the Soviet Union and the period after its collapse became the starting point in increasing the level of the use of terrorist methods and transforming approaches to the implementation of terrorist activities.

The entire Caucasus region was part of the Soviet Union and was an important region, as it is a region with access to the Azov, Black, Caspian Seas, and is also a border region between Europe and Central Asia. It is important for Russia that the Caucasus be a stable region, although today its main problems remain ethnic conflicts and the spread of terrorism. The destabilization of the region since the end of the last century has a negative impact not only on the local population, but also on Russia as a whole.

It is worth noting that the Caucasus is heterogeneous not only in its ethnic composition, among which there are more than 50 nationalities, but also in its religious composition: the two predominant religions are Islam, with representatives of both Sunni and Shiite currents, and Christianity, which in turn is also divided into the Russian Orthodox, Georgian Orthodox, and Armenian Apostolic churches.

To date, the Caucasus region has not reached a solution to all historically formed issues, ethnic conflicts and territorial disputes also remain in the region, which in turn become factors influencing the spread of terrorism. The phenomenon of women's terrorism is also reflected in this region. It is noteworthy that in the Caucasus, women do not become leaders of movements, but "living weapons" that are used to embody the ideas of terrorist groups. Since the end of the last century, female suicide bombers or "live bombs", as they are also called, have become a new trend in the development of terrorism in the Caucasus.

Analysis of biographies of female suicide bombers shows that Caucasian women became suicide bombers for various reasons, they include: psychological problems, vulnerability of certain groups of the population, loss of loved ones and desire for revenge (widows of dead militants), the influence of relatives who were already members of terrorist groups. Based on these reasons, psychological treatment and special training were carried out, after which the future terrorist had to "complete her mission" [2]

The Caucasus region covers the territories of Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the territories of unrecognized/partially recognized countries: Abkhazia, South Ossetia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. As part of the study based on the method of situational analysis, we will consider the post-Soviet conflicts in the Caucasus. The hypothesis of the study is that there is a connection between ethnicity, religion and the presence of women in terrorist activities in the Caucasus. This study examines three conflicts in the region and notes the participation of the female population in them:

1) Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

2) Between Georgia and the peoples in Georgia

3) Between Russia and the peoples of the North Caucasus

Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenian terrorism appeared in the Ottoman Empire, the most famous terrorist groups are Armenakan, Gnchak, Dashnaktsutyun. All three organizations used terrorist methods to achieve their goals. The goals were to raise the Armenian consciousness, get rid of the oppression of the Ottomans, the struggle for the independence of Armenia and its unification (the territories were in both the Russian and the Ottoman Empires). For example, there was one woman among the founders of Gnchak – Mariam Vardanyan. One of the prominent figures of Dashnaktsutyun was Sose Mayrik (Vardanyan). However, it is worth noting that these organizations did not operate after the creation of the Soviet Union on its territory.

Ethnic conflicts between Armenians and Azerbaijanis began in Soviet times, and during perestroika, clashes between the two peoples manifested themselves. Terrorist methods of struggle were used on both sides, and the situation was aggravated by the fact that the Union center lost control of the situation [6].

It is necessary to separate terrorist and military activities, if we consider that the Karabakh war lasted from 1992-1996 and in 2021, then there were terrorist attacks, but no direct participation of women in them was detected, except for the 1994 terrorist attack in the Baku metro. The explosions inside the Baku metro, although they were in wartime, but the explosions in it are a terrorist attack, by an Armenian by origin Kamo Saakov. His wife Elena Saakova was found guilty of preparing this terrorist attack, the man was sentenced to death, the fate of the woman is unknown.

In the case of religious terrorism, it should be said that some Azerbaijanis from the Kvemo-Kartli region are members of ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) [4]. Recruitment to the Islamic State occurs mainly through Internet propaganda in social networks, through recruiters who psychologically influence vulnerable segments of the population (including women and children) [1].

The result of the analysis is the absence of a large participation of women in active terrorist activities in these countries, which does not mean their absence in terrorist cells. At the same time, recruitment is carried out mainly among Muslim women.

Georgia and the Peoples in Georgia

Ethnic clashes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as between Armenians and Azerbaijanis, began in the last years of the Soviet Union. During the period 1988-1991, more than 40 terrorist acts were committed in the Georgian SSR, the purpose of which was to destabilize the relations of the center with the regions, which eventually led to two wars [6].

Speaking about religious terrorism in Georgia, it is worth noting that hundreds of Georgian citizens are found among ISIS (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation), but despite the appearance of this kind of information, the official leadership of the country denies the participation of its citizens in actions on the side of the Islamic State [4].

During the Chechen conflict, Georgia became a haven for Chechen militants, who later continued their subversive activities in other countries. In 2019, Zelimkhan Khangoshvili, a militant of Georgian-Chechen origin, was shot dead in Germany, which led to the aggravation of bilateral relations between Russia and Germany and the retaliatory expulsion of diplomats from the countries. According to some reports, about 1,000 Chechens were initially hiding in the Pankisi Gorge, a place of refuge for militants, and prisoners were also held there. Only in 2002, due to Russia's increasing influence on the Shevardnadze government, Georgia recognized the location of Chechen militants on its territory [11].

Georgia's conflict with Russia in 2008 attracted not only Chechen militants to Georgia, but also groups of terrorists who fought on the side of ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Despite the fact that after the fateful terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, countries began to take serious measures to counter terrorist threats, the Georgian government was ready to encourage any anti-Russian activity.

Georgia has a law on combating terrorism, but not all actions of Georgian law enforcement agencies can demonstrate its implementation. So, in the case of the terrorist Ahmed Chatayev, who fought on the side of ISIS in Syria, and then worked on the organization of the explosion at Istanbul airport, the Georgian authorities stated that they knew nothing about the presence of a member of an international terrorist organization on their territory.

It is worth saying that women's terrorism in Georgia has not become widespread. However, according to some reports, the suicide bomber who carried out the terrorist attack in Tushino in Moscow arrived from Georgia.

In Georgia, as in other states, recruitment to ISIS and other terrorist and extremist groups has been noted. Russian women who lived in Chechnya are most often the object of recruitment of women, there are citizens of Azerbaijan, residents of Dagestan, Georgia and Turkey. But in the case of Georgia, there is a low rate of women who have stepped on the side of Shahidism. To a large extent, this is due to a stable confessional factor, in Georgia more than 91% of residents profess Orthodoxy, most of whom consider themselves to be the Georgian Orthodox Church. It is impossible not to note the loyal attitude of the Georgian government to the militants. With the free conduct of business by terrorist groups, there is no need for active recruitment of the population.

Russia and the peoples of the North Caucasus

The North Caucasus is a region dominated by Islam, and the main prerequisite for the emergence of terrorism is that the idea of universal Islamization of the population was intensively promoted among the peoples professing Islam during the period of perestroika. The opposition between the existing socialist system and the laws of Allah provoked the radicalization of the population, which turned into the emergence and spread of terrorism in this region.

In the last decade of the twentieth century, the terrorist organization "Congress of the Peoples of Ichkeria and Dagestan" was created, Al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood began their spread (all organizations are banned in the Russian Federation).

Islamic radicalism has led to the emergence of a new type of female terrorism – suicide bombers. Suicide bombers are a type of terrorism in which women, sacrificing themselves, commit a terrorist act in order to intimidate, intimidate the population, guided by the fact that they do it in the name of Allah. The first female suicide bombers in Russia were Hava Zhdansurkaeva (Barayeva) and Luisa Magomadova, in June 2000 they drove into the military commandant's office in a car packed with explosives, taking the lives of 27 servicemen [9].

In 2001, on the initiative of Shamil Basayev, a terrorist organization consisting of only women, called "Black Widows", was created. A common feature of the women who took part in the terrorist acts of this organization, and served as the basis for the creation of this group of terrorists, was that they were the wives of militants. Suicide bombers have committed a number of terrorist attacks on the territory of Russia, including a terrorist attack in Nord-Ost, a terrorist attack at a rock concert in Tushino, explosions of public transport both in Moscow and in other regions of Russia.

At the same time, there is a bad tendency that Muslims living in the North Caucasus, migrating to the Middle East, join terrorist groups there. Among Muslims, there are often women who, together with their husbands, become militants and plan to commit Jihad [16].

Conclusions

Women's terrorism appeared in the Russian Empire, but then it took the form of socio-revolutionary terrorism, but there were no terrorist attacks in the Caucasus committed only by women, although they could take part in them. Since the beginning of perestroika, the problem of the Caucasus has sharply worsened, as there was propaganda of radical Islam among the Muslim population, and unresolved ethnic conflicts contributed to destabilization in the region. The Caucasus region is a target for terrorist groups because of its strategic location and geopolitical importance.

The main reasons for the emergence of women's terrorism in the Caucasus are: propaganda of radical Islam, social disadvantage, gender inequality, thirst for revenge. Thus, women were subjected to psychological influence or recruitment, which eventually made them subjects of terrorist activity.

The authors' case study analysis yielded the following results:

1. There were no separate terrorist attacks by women or with the participation of women in Armenia and Azerbaijan, while women took part in the Karabakh war as militants.

2. Few cases of women's involvement in terrorism have been registered in Georgia, and in the case of Georgia, the percentage of recruited women is extremely small.

3. In the North Caucasus, which is under Russian control, the problem of terrorism has been very relevant since perestroika. The problem of "black widows" in Russia has not manifested itself for a long time, the last terrorist attack committed by a terrorist in Russia was in 2013, in 2016 a Muslim woman killed a child, but a forensic expert said that it was not a premeditated terrorist attack. It can be concluded that Russia's anti-terrorist policy has proved successful.

4. The hypothesis of the study is partially confirmed. The authors failed to find the relationship between the ethnic component and the participation of women in terrorist activities, while the influence of the confessional factor can be noted, since the absolute majority of Caucasian women involved in terrorism are Muslim.

The Russian Federation continues to consider the entire Caucasus as a zone of its sphere of influence and considers it important that the region be stable, despite the existing contradictions. In order to maintain regional order, it is necessary to prevent terrorism and extremism in order to prevent the development of terrorist activities, and this is an urgent area of activity not only in the Russian Federation [12], but also in other Caucasian countries.

References
1. Abramov, A.V., Fedorchenko, S.N. & Kurylev, K.P. (2017). Network Character of International Terrorism and the Possibility of the Consolidation of the Russian Society. Vestnik RUDN. International Relations, 17 (4), 738—748. DOI: 10.22363/2313-0660-2017-17-4-738-748.
2. Adamova, M.A. (2014). Features and trends in the development of modern terrorism in the North Caucasus, 3 (12), 112-115.
3. Akhmedshin, R.L. (2020) The phenomenon of terrorism: criminological and forensic nature, history, concept. Bulletin of the Tomsk State University, 453, 232-240. DOI: 10.17223/15617793/453/28.
4. Bardina, K.V. (2020). Terrorism in the Transcaucasus (Georgia as an example). Post-Soviet Studies, 3 (6), 501-506. DOI: 10.24411/2618-7426-2020-00034.
5. Budnitsky O. V. (Ed.). (1996). Women terrorists in Russia. Phoenix.
6. Gikashvili, G. (2019) Terrorism in the South Caucasus. Post-Soviet Studies, 5, p. 1292-1304. DOI: 10.24411/2618-7426-2019-00047.
7. Kurilev, K.P., Kurbanov, R.M. The concept of “International terrorist” according to the constructivist school of international relations. Journal of Political Studies, 3 (1), 76-82.
8. Mankov, A. V. (2012). Revolutionary terrorism of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party: emergence and periodization. History in detail, 12 (30), 64-71.
9. Pashchenko, I.V. (2018). The Phenomenon of "Women's Suicidal Terrorism" in the North Caucasus: Genesis and Transformation. The new past, 3, 90-102. DOI: 10.23683/2500-3224-2018-3-90-102.
10. Rakhimov, K. Kh. (2019). Legal regulation of countering terrorism and extremism in the states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Eurasian Law Journal, 2 (129), p. 67-70.
11. Ramich, M. S., Gorbil, P.R., Korosteleva, E. I. (2022). Shaping of the U.S. Regional Security Framework in the Indo-Pacific Region in 2012-2020. Problemy Dalnego Vostoka, 1, 81-95. DOI: 10.31857/S013128120018313-5.
12. Rau, Johann. The problem of the Pankisi gorge in the relations of Russia and Georgia during Chechen wars (1996-2002). Modern scientific thought, 1, 127-137.
13. Jabbari Nasir H. (2017). Political islam, terrorism and security in the Middle East. MGIMO Review of International Relations, 5(56), 183-198. DOI: 10.24833/2071-8160-2017-5-56-183-198.
14. Shkaratan, O. I. (2011). Society as a social system.Sociological Journal, 4, 116-143.
15. Hoffman B. (1998). Inside Terrorism. N.Y.: Columbia University Press.
16. Kvakhadze, A. (2020). Gender and Jihad: Women from the Caucasus in the Syrian Conflict. Perspectives on Terrorism, 14 (2), 69-79.

First Peer Review

Peer reviewers' evaluations remain confidential and are not disclosed to the public. Only external reviews, authorized for publication by the article's author(s), are made public. Typically, these final reviews are conducted after the manuscript's revision. Adhering to our double-blind review policy, the reviewer's identity is kept confidential.
The list of publisher reviewers can be found here.

The subject of the peer-reviewed study is the participation of women in terrorist activities. It is difficult to overestimate the relevance of this topic in the context of the ongoing terrorist activity of various groups. However, the author could not fully realize his idea. And the reason for this is the lack of theoretical and methodological reflection. From the context, we can conclude about some of the methods that were used, but were not declared or argued by the author. In addition to general scientific analytical methods, the historical method and case study can be distinguished. However, the lack of reflection led the author to shift the focus of his attention from one subject of research to another. The scientific novelty does not coincide with the subject of the study declared by the author – women's terrorism in the Caucasus. Throughout almost the entire work, the author talks about the history of terrorism in general, the history of the Caucasus region, and only a few times dwells on women's terrorism itself. The first of the conclusions obtained by the author is negative: "The result of the analysis is the absence of a large participation of women in active terrorist activities in Armenia and Azerbaijan." The second conclusion: "... Women's terrorism in Georgia is not widespread." And only in relation to the North Caucasus, the author devotes several paragraphs dedicated to women's terrorism. At the same time, there is no novelty in the author's conclusions like this: "The main causes of the emergence of women's terrorism in the Caucasus are the propaganda of radical Islam, social disadvantage, thirst for revenge for the suffering caused". The indicated displacement of the subject could not but affect the structure of the work. If the subject was terrorism in the Caucasus, the structure of the work would be quite consistent with such an idea. But since the article is devoted to a very specific private topic of female terrorism, its logic is not entirely clear. In the introduction, the author describes the scientific problem that he plans to investigate, its relevance, etc. The following is a description of the history of terrorism in general, and women's terrorism in particular. This description is periodically interspersed with the history of the Caucasus region. Then, without explaining the reasons, three cases are highlighted for research: - the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict; - the Georgian-South Ossetian and Georgian-Abkhazian conflicts; - conflicts in the North Caucasus. Considering that, according to the author, it was not possible to detect female terrorism in the first two cases, the reasons for choosing these particular cases remained a mystery. In principle, if the author had conducted an appropriate theoretical and methodological reflection, he would have found a basis for comparing these three selected cases. So, one of the varieties of the rather popular case study method, which is called the "extreme case study", corresponds well to the logic of the author. This method is based on the analysis of cases that differ as much as possible from each other in one variable, but coincide in other variables, to test existing hypotheses and build new ones. If the author's hypothesis (by the way, its description is also missing) There was an influence of the religious factor on the "female face of terror", then it would be quite logical to choose three cases in which there is a widespread use of terrorist acts, but which differ according to the criterion of religion. However, the author did not make such a theoretical and methodological reflection. Because of this, all his conclusions "hung in the air." There are also a lot of questions about the style of work. The text contains an unacceptably large number of stylistic ones (for example, the repetition of the word "fear", which can easily be replaced by the synonym "fear", "beware", etc. in the sentence: "... Local authorities were afraid to talk about the February Revolution immediately, fearing the reaction of the population..."; the incongruous word "moment" in relation to the process: "Since the Civil War..." ("Since the BEGINNING of the Civil War"? – rec.); etc.) and grammatical (for example, extra commas in sentences "... Changes are possible within both the social system and the regional order"; "Terrorism can be both a way, as well as changes in the social system and the regional order"; "... In the region there were strong, as monarchical views, as well as left-wing trends..."; or the lack of commas: "... Ethnic differences also arose in the North Caucasus, which was part of the RSFSR"; "... Was an important region because it is a region with access to ..."; "It is important for Russia that the Caucasus ..."; or inconsistent proposals "...All this indicates that international relations..."; "... The Transcaucasian Democratic Federal Republic, which split into Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and after the establishment of Soviet power there, disagreements between peoples and separatist movements periodically manifested themselves"; "It is important for Russia that the Caucasus be a stable region, and the main problems are ethnic conflicts and the spread of terrorism"; or typos and missing letters: "... For a long time, actually the head of the Basque group is THIS ..."; ) errors. There is also some terminological negligence. For example, the author, judging by the context, does not clearly understand the meaning of the term "factor" in the expression "... International relations are a dynamically developing system complicated by many factors ...". The comma-separated enumeration of phenomena of different order also looks strange: "... Ideology, nationalism and religion." Isn't nationalism one of the ideologies? It is not entirely correct to list a more general phenomenon separated by a comma with a particular phenomenon. And if different interpretations can still be allowed with regard to religion (K. Marx and F. Engels, for example, considered religion to be one of the forms of ideology; however, today this point of view is not "mainstream"), then there are no significant discrepancies in the interpretation of nationalism as a political ideology in the modern theory of ideologies. There is no such terminological aberration in the article by K.P. Kurylev and R.M. Kurbanov, to which the author refers. Equally strange is the contrast between the rise of feminist movements and the practices of gender inequality: "And if such participation of women in the organization of terrorist acts can be explained by the rise of movements fighting for feminist ideas, then in the case of the Caucasus, female separatism is rather explained by gender inequality." This begs the question for the author: was the rise of feminism noted by him caused not by the observed gender inequality, but by some other factors? What is the meaning of this juxtaposition? In fact, the author's statement is also incorrect that "The modern concept of terrorism arose from the theory of "propaganda of action" by Carlo Picazane ...". Depending on what is considered a "modern concept of terrorism", the origins of this phenomenon, as well as its theoretical reflection, can be found in the writings and practices of the Jacobins of the late XVIII century. or the revolutionaries of the 19th century. (anarchists, narodniks, etc.), although the phenomenon of terrorism itself is, of course, much more ancient. In the article by R.L. Akhmedshina, to whom the author refers to confirm his conclusions, there is no mention of the surname of Pikazane at all. As there is no such mention in the book by B. Hoffman, which the author refers to below, linking the practices of Narodniks and Social Revolutionaries in Russia with the "propaganda of action" by K. Pikazane. Neither does O.V. Budnitsky, one of the leading Russian experts in the field of terrorism research, say anything about this, one of whose works can also be found in the bibliographic list attached to the reviewed article. The term "confessional multitude" used by the author in the expression "ethnic diversity and confessional multitude" is extremely vague, etc., etc. The text cannot be published in this form. At a minimum, it is necessary to carefully subtract it and eliminate all grammatical errors. The bibliography of 15 titles and sufficiently represents the state of research on the problems of the article. Although it could be significantly strengthened through the use of sources in foreign languages. In addition, quite a lot of errors were also made in the design of the bibliography. First of all, the design does not follow a single standard, there are different citation styles (for example, in some places the article is quoted as follows: "Kant. – 2014. – ¹. 3 (12). – Pp. 112-115.", and in others differently: "TheNewPast. 2018. No. 3. pp. 90-102."). There are residual hyphenations in broken words (for example: "The prospects of terrorism"; "according to the constructivist school"; "Journal of Political Studies", etc.). There is no appeal to opponents due to the lack of theoretical and methodological reflection.
GENERAL CONCLUSION: the article proposed for review at this stage of its preparation can be qualified as a scientific work that only partially meets the requirements for works of this kind. Despite the extremely interesting and relevant topic chosen by the author, which could well arouse the interest of political scientists, sociologists, conflict scientists, as well as students of the listed specialties, the author failed to realize the idea in its entirety. At a minimum, you need to subtract the entire text, eliminating stylistic and grammatical errors. To work on the correctness of the terminological apparatus. To conduct a theoretical and methodological reflection, describing and arguing your methodological choice. Correct errors in the design of the bibliographic list. The presented material corresponds to the subject of the journal "Conflictology / nota bene". After eliminating the noted shortcomings, the article can be recommended for publication.

Second Peer Review

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Today, numerous specialists – philosophers, sociologists, political scientists – are increasingly talking about the dramatic changes taking place before our eyes in socio-economic and geopolitical terms, due primarily to the transformation of the monopolar world led by the United States into a multipolar world, in which a number of actors, including Moscow, Beijing, will occupy leading positions in addition to Washington., New Delhi, Tehran. However, the transition period is always characterized by increased conflict, which causes both the expansion of local military conflict zones and the intensification of the activities of various extremist and radical organizations. All this raises the importance of studying the current problems of terrorist threats and the social component of the phenomenon of terrorism. These circumstances determine the relevance of the article submitted for review, the subject of which is women's terrorism in the Caucasus. The author sets out to analyze the peculiarities of the manifestation of terrorism involving the female population, as well as to identify trends and aspects of the use of gender-based terrorism. The work is based on the principles of analysis and synthesis, reliability, objectivity, the methodological basis of the research is a systematic approach, which is based on the consideration of the object as an integral complex of interrelated elements. As part of the research, the author also uses the case study method. The scientific novelty of the article is determined by the very formulation of the topic: the author seeks to characterize the phenomenon of female terrorism in the Caucasus, which is in the focus of attention of leading geopolitical players. The scientific novelty is also determined by the possibility of using the collected material as part of the prevention of terrorist activities. Considering the bibliographic list of the article, its scale and versatility should be noted as a positive point: in total, the list of references includes 16 different sources and studies. Among the works attracted by the author, we note the theoretical works of R.L. Akhmedshin, K.P. Kurylev, R.M. Kurbanov, which focus on the definition of terrorism, as well as applied works by K.V. Bardina, G. Gikashvili, I.V. Pashchenko, devoted to regional aspects of terrorism in the Caucasus. Note that the bibliography is important, both from a scientific and educational point of view: after reading the text, readers can turn to other materials on its topic. In general, in our opinion, the integrated use of various sources and research contributed to the solution of the tasks facing the author. The style of writing the article can be attributed to a scientific one, at the same time understandable not only to specialists, but also to a wide readership, to anyone who is interested in both terrorist threats in general and the gender characteristics of terrorism in particular. The appeal to the opponents is presented at the level of the collected information received by the author during the work on the topic of the article. The structure of the work is characterized by a certain logic and consistency, it can be distinguished by an introduction, the main part, and conclusion. At the beginning, the author determines the relevance of the topic, shows that among the influential members of such organizations as Narodnaya Volya were Vera Zasulich, Sofia Perovskaya, etc. Considering the situation in the perestroika and post-perestroika period, the author draws attention to the fact that "unresolved ethnic conflicts, the deportation of peoples from their native places to other parts of the Soviet Union and Soviet propaganda of atheism became prerequisites for the radicalization of the Caucasian population, which subsequently led to an increase in terrorist threats." Speaking about the phenomenon of suicide bombers, the author rightly points out that "in the Caucasus, women do not become leaders of movements, but "living weapons" that are used to embody the ideas of terrorist groups." It is noteworthy that during the study "it was not possible to find a relationship between the ethnic component and the participation of women in terrorist activities, while the influence of the confessional factor can be noted." The main conclusion of the article is that "the causes of women's terrorism in the Caucasus are: propaganda of radical Islam, social disadvantage, gender inequality, thirst for revenge." The article submitted for review is devoted to an urgent topic, will arouse readers' interest, and its materials can be used both in training courses and in the framework of terrorism prevention. In general, in our opinion, the article can be recommended for publication in the journal "Conflictology / nota bene".