Terrorist Recruitment in Central Asia - Noah Tucker | 2024 Episode 17

This episode of The IR thinker examines why some individuals in Central Asia become vulnerable to terrorist recruitment, as Noah Tucker unpacks the role of grievance, identity, social networks and opportunity structures in shaping susceptibility. The conversation explores recruiters’ tactics and communication channels, what happens after recruitment, and how effective awareness campaigns and local initiatives have been in countering violent extremism in the region.

Noah Tucker

Noah Tucker is a senior research consultant with the Oxus Society and a programme associate for the Central Asia Program at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University. His research focuses on extremist and ethnic violence, religion and identity in Central Asia, informed by extensive fieldwork in Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Georgia. He previously held the Handa Studentship at the Handa Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Political Violence at the University of St Andrews and co founded a non profit education project in Tashkent, where he served as director from 2002 to 2005.

Publications:

Foreign Fighters, Returnees and a Resurgent Taliban

Content

00:00 - Introduction

01:57 - Primary Factors Contributing to Susceptibility to Terrorist Recruitment in Central Asia

09:08 - Size of Recruitment Groups

12:50 - Motivational Factors in Terrorist Recruitment

24:03 - Socioeconomic Status as a Vulnerability Factor?

29:54 - Communication Channels Utilised by Recruiters

39:55 - Post-Recruitment Processes

49:37 - Effectiveness of Awareness Counter-Terrorism Campaigns

55:57 - Local Campaigns Against Terrorist Recruitment

01:01:04 - Adaptation of Recruiters and Counter-Terrorist Measures

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