Description
Studying the origins of the Russian understanding of the foreign war volunteering, popularly known as the ‘foreign fighter’ (FF) phenomenon, can be advantageous for at least to reasons. First, important contribution to the study of FF phenomenon and strategies to counter them can be made if we include the role of the state, particularly the aspect of responsibility for violence, with its consequences to both domestic and foreign policy. Russia’s distinctive practices towards FFs, first and foremost alleged state facilitation of their outflow to Syria and Iraq, as well as Ukraine in the past decade, can provide insight into domestic power structures as well as foreign policy choices. Second, most recent practices within counterterrorism framework, namely the use and abuse of power, tap into these discourses on ‘foreign fighters’ and make certain actions possible. By employing genealogical methods, and therefore paying attention to processual aspects of web of discourses, the main aim is to understand how ‘foreign fighters’ as a subject constructed through discourse, and by doing so, how power is practiced. This study builds on constructivist and poststructuralist literatures in the field of international relations. In order to explore how Russian military and security leadership formulated it thinking about FFs, it focuses its attention on siloviki structures as centres of practices of power, and maps discursive practices through contemporary Russian periodical journals in security and military studies fields (such as Voyennaya Mysl’) to examine how the state articulated statements on ‘foreign fighters’ across time.
