This book describes and analyzes the convergence of transnational organized crime and jihadist terrorism that has taken place within Russian-speaking social networks in Western Europe. Studies have shown that while under certain circumstances links between criminal organizations and terrorist groups appear, these are usually opportunistic and temporary in nature. Only rarely do they develop into something deeper and transformative, a convergence between crime and terrorism. This book reveals that Russian-speaking transnational organized crime and jihadist terrorism pose a serious threat to security and constitute a major challenge for law enforcement. Through their links with transnational organized crime, Russian-speaking jihadist networks from the Caucasus and Central Asia have easier access to weaponry, commercial explosives, and forged IDs than many other jihadist networks. Being in effect an integral component of transnational organized crime, the Russian-speaking jihadists can be assessed as potentially more capable than many other jihadists. The book assesses the effects of terrorism and organized crime on Russian-speaking diasporas in Western Europe and examines the implications for counterterrorism as well as policing on how to counteract the illegal activities of these networks. Drawing on Swedish court cases the work shows that an additional, and sometimes more effective way, to fight terrorism is by focusing on the non-terrorist types of crime perpetrated by terrorists. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

This volume examines the lone actor terrorist phenomenon, including the larger societal trends which may or may not have led to their acts of terrorism. With lone actor terrorism becoming an increasingly common threat, the contributors to this volume aim to answer the following questions: What drives the actions of individuals who become lone actor terrorists? Are ideological and cultural issues key factors, or are personal psychological motives more useful in assessing the threat? Do lone actors evolve in a broader social context or are they primarily fixated loners? What response strategies are available to security services and law enforcement? What is the future outlook for this particular terrorist threat? Although these issues are frequently discussed, few books have taken a global perspective as their primary focus. While many books focus on lone actor terrorists in relation to terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaida and the Islamic State, few, if any, cover lone actors of all ideological backgrounds, including the variants of active shooters and malicious insiders in information security, such as Edward Snowden - with both of these latter categories constituting an important variant of lone actors. Utilising the expertise of academics and practitioners, the volume offers a valuable multidisciplinary perspective. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, criminology, security studies and IR.

This volume examines the lone actor terrorist phenomenon, including the larger societal trends which may or may not have led to their acts of terrorism. With lone actor terrorism becoming an increasingly common threat, the contributors to this volume aim to answer the following questions: What drives the actions of individuals who become lone actor terrorists? Are ideological and cultural issues key factors, or are personal psychological motives more useful in assessing the threat? Do lone actors evolve in a broader social context or are they primarily fixated loners? What response strategies are available to security services and law enforcement? What is the future outlook for this particular terrorist threat? Although these issues are frequently discussed, few books have taken a global perspective as their primary focus. While many books focus on lone actor terrorists in relation to terrorist groups, such as Al-Qaida and the Islamic State, few, if any, cover lone actors of all ideological backgrounds, including the variants of active shooters and malicious insiders in information security, such as Edward Snowden - with both of these latter categories constituting an important variant of lone actors. Utilising the expertise of academics and practitioners, the volume offers a valuable multidisciplinary perspective. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, criminology, security studies and IR.

This book describes and analyzes the convergence of transnational organized crime and jihadist terrorism that has taken place within Russian-speaking social networks in Western Europe. Studies have shown that while under certain circumstances links between criminal organizations and terrorist groups appear, these are usually opportunistic and temporary in nature. Only rarely do they develop into something deeper and transformative, a convergence between crime and terrorism. This book reveals that Russian-speaking transnational organized crime and jihadist terrorism pose a serious threat to security and constitute a major challenge for law enforcement. Through their links with transnational organized crime, Russian-speaking jihadist networks from the Caucasus and Central Asia have easier access to weaponry, commercial explosives, and forged IDs than many other jihadist networks. Being in effect an integral component of transnational organized crime, the Russian-speaking jihadists can be assessed as potentially more capable than many other jihadists. The book assesses the effects of terrorism and organized crime on Russian-speaking diasporas in Western Europe and examines the implications for counterterrorism as well as policing on how to counteract the illegal activities of these networks. Drawing on Swedish court cases the work shows that an additional, and sometimes more effective way, to fight terrorism is by focusing on the non-terrorist types of crime perpetrated by terrorists. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism and counter-terrorism, political violence, criminology, security studies and IR in general.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has developed into a key regional security group in Asia, its member states representing no less than "half of humanity". Alarmists believe that the SCO is making itself into a NATO of the East, thus posing a long-term threat to the West. Moreover, several members are key players in economic development and energy production, hence political developments within the SCO can no longer be ignored by the global market. Even so, the organization has long been disregarded by political leaders in the West and is seldom reported in Western media or analysed in academic works. As such, this ground-breaking volume - the first study to properly treat a key regional grouping in Asia and with contributors from across the region and beyond - will be a key reference for many specialists and academics working on Asian affairs.

The book describes and analyses the 'Swedish Deluge' (potop szwedski), the devastating 1655-1660 wars fought between Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Brandenburg-Prussia, Muscovite Russia, Transylvania, Cossack Ukraine, the Tatar Khanate of Crimea, and the Holy Roman Empire during the reign of Swedish King Charles X Gustavus, an experienced former general from the Thirty Years' War. By invading the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, King Charles saw an opportunity to put an end to the Polish King's claim to the Swedish throne and to gain additional territories which would enable him to control the Baltic Sea maritime trade. The book focuses on the Swedish-Commonwealth war, which provoked the political and military collapse of the Commonwealth. However, since this conflict cannot be disentangled from the simultaneous wars between the Commonwealth and Muscovy, from 1654 to 1667, and between Sweden and Muscovy, from 1656 to 1661, they are described as well. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian cossacks fought for freedom from what they perceived as the oppression of the Commonwealth. Michael Fredholm von Essen presents new research on a war previously seldom described in English. Moreover, the book explains the continued development of the Swedish Army after the Thirty Years' War. It also provides full details on the dissimilar military systems of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Brandenburg-Prussia, Muscovite Russia, Cossack Ukraine, Transylvania, the Crimean Tatar Khanate, and the Imperial expeditionary forces engaged in the Swedish Deluge.

The book describes and analyses the early modern Swedish army during the Thirty Years War after the death in 1632 of King Gustavus Adolphus. At this time, military operations were handled by field marshals under the overall command of the Swedish Chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna. The book expands our understanding of the Swedish army during the Thirty Years War by focusing on its later operations, including those against Polish and Danish opponents, and not only on the better-known operations in Germany against the Catholic League and the Holy Roman Empire. Meanwhile, Oxenstierna continued his administrative reforms, which enabled Sweden consistently to raise troops, despite the small population of Sweden and its territories, and enabled an intelligence and logistics system which could supply the armies, despite the vast geographical depth of operations. While the Swedish army of Gustavus Adolphus positioned Sweden as an emerging great power, it was the subsequent developments of the army under Oxenstierna that enabled the Swedish rise to regional great power status. While the army of Gustavus Adolphus has been described elsewhere, the Swedish army's later developments are less well known. Moreover, the book includes current research that has not yet appeared in the English language. It also describes the 1643-1645 Swedish invasion of Denmark ('Torstensson's War') and the battles and sieges, including those of Vienna and Prague, that led up to the Peace of Westphalia, which concluded the Thirty Years War. Finally, the book covers the military aspects of the establishment of Sweden's first American colony.

The book describes and analyses the Scanian War, which was fought from 1675 to 1679 between, on one side, primarily Brandenburg and Denmark-Norway and, on the other, Sweden. The war was mainly fought in Scania, the former Danish lands along the border with Sweden, and in northern Germany. The Danish objective was to retrieve Scania which, a generation earlier, had been captured by Sweden and ceded by Denmark. However, the Danish invasion of Scania was defeated by the young Swedish King Charles XI. Although the Danish fleet was victorious at sea, and an alliance headed by Brandenburg defeated the Swedes in Germany, the subsequent peace negotiations resulted in no major territorial changes. Danish partisans continued guerrilla operations in Scania for years, yet the former Danish territories remained in Swedish hands. The Scanian War was bloody, even by contemporary standards, and from a military point of view, quite inconclusive. Yet, Sweden's experiences in the Scanian War laid the foundation for the first substantial reform of the Swedish army since the Thirty Years' War. Based on what he had learnt, King Charles XI restructured the Swedish army and established a comprehensive military system that enabled Sweden to repeatedly mobilise trained armies during the even more devastating Great Northern War (1700-1721) which followed a generation later. Moreover, several recent archaeological excavations have increased our knowledge of the Scanian War, as well as the conditions of late seventeenth-century battles. The book describes the war and its results, and summarises the archaeological findings.

The book describes and analyses the emergence of the early modern Russian army, before the military reforms introduced by Tsar Peter the Great brought it in line with developments in Western Europe. It will be shown that Tsar Peter's reforms, although decisive, rested on a legacy of previous reforms. Yet, the origin of the early modern Russian army can be found in the East, not the West. The close association during the Middle Ages with the Mongol Golden Horde had transformed the Muscovite military system into a Eurasian one. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, links with the Northern Caucasus and Siberia brought further Oriental influences into the Russian military system. While the Mongol legacy of the early Muscovite army has been described elsewhere, the real and continuous impact of Oriental influences in the early modern Russian army has not yet been detailed. Besides, the detailed information on the Russian army in 1673/1674 which can be found in the military handbook then produced by a Swedish intelligence officer has never been fully used in English-language works. This information shows that by the second half of the seventeenth century, Russia already had an army that although not up to date according to Western standards, still was able to hold its own against both Western and Eastern adversaries. The book ends with 1689, when Tsar Peter's reign began and Russia's border in the east with China was negotiated.