After his death the Times of London published that Arbi Barayev was “perhaps the worst example of a generation of young men who grew up into a world of crime in Chechnya.”
Barayev came of age during a time of great political turmoil. The Soviet Union collapsed. Russia and Chechnya engaged in a brutal war that ran from 1994-96. That war was followed by a second catastrophic war beginning in 1999. Barayev’s world was chaotic and violent and he played his role in making it chaotic and violent.
In 1996 during the interwar period Barayev organized and presided over the Special Purpose Islamic Regiment (SPIR). The Stanford University Center for International Security and Cooperation described SPIR as a radical Sunni militant organization that “sought to use its Islamic connections and militant tactics to liberate Chechnya from Russian authority and establish an Islamic caliphate encompassing the North Caucasus, parts of Azerbaijan, and Abkhazia in Georgia.”
Barayev and SPIR had connections to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden. Barayev’s SPIR according to the Center for Defense Information was “regarded as one of the main hostage-taking, kidnapping, and oil-smuggling groups operating in Chechnya.” He boasted about personally killing people and was involved in many acts of violence, which earned him the nickname of Terminator.
Perhaps his most internationally known act of terrorism came in 1998 when 4 international tele-com workers were beheaded. The foreign nationals from Great Britain and New Zealand were kidnapped and ransom negotiations were ongoing when Barayev received a more lucrative offer to have them killed. Barayev had been negotiating for a $10 million ransom but according to the BBC “Barayev told associates the atrocity was part of a jihad and that he would received $30m from his "Arab friends". Once it became more lucrative to kill the men their fate was sealed.
Barayev’s downfall came after he was involved in the murder of the Mayor of Gehki on June 16, 2001. In the aftermath of this murder Russian special forces attacked the village of Alkhan-Kala where a 6 day battle resulted in several casualties on both sides. Among those killed was Arbi Barayev.
Control of SPIR fell to his nephew Movsar Barayev, who led the group until his death in the Moscow Dubrovka Theater attack on October 23, 2002.
Arbi lived a violent life where he ruled by force and coercion. He killed and was ultimately killed in what he called “big politics.” Rossiyskaya Gazetta described Barayev after his death as “a simple bandit who thought only of money and personal gain.” His short reign as a violent warlord came to a violent end with his death on June 22, 2001.
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
When Lenin was working on his major writing projects he would often pace across the room formulating the ideas that he would write down by saying them out loud. Once he had the idea for what he wanted to write he would often repeat the idea to Nadezhda Krupskaya, who would provide feedback. Once this process was complete he would then write the ideas down.
Here is an AI rendering of what that might have looked like when he was drafting What is to be Done.
This month this community will focus on political subversion. What is subversion? When is it justified? What is the interplay between subversion and agitation? These are some of the topics to be discussed this month.
“You get used to the despot’s shortcomings, when they are not great vices, and the change of an autocratic ruler leads to involuntary fear.”
Sergei Trubetskoi
