Constructing the terrorist threat

This chapter introduces how securitisation works on the case of Chechnya. It outlines the core mechanics of securitisation—the securitising actor, the referent object, the audiences, and the speech acts that cast terrorism as an existential threat warranting exceptional measures, then asks when, how, and with what effects such claims were accepted. The empirical focus is the Second Chechen War and two emblematic terrorist attacks: the 2002 Nord-Ost siege and the 2004 Beslan school siege. These cases show how the Kremlin framed the terrorism threat, coordinated messages across public, evoked emergency measures, and used media to consolidate support for expanded powers. The chapter traces the consequences of this sustained process: legal centralisation and the widening of counterterrorism authorities, tighter control of the information space, and societal effects including fear, conformity pressures, and the narrowing of civic spaces. It also flags competing interpretations and moments of contestation, assessing when securitisation succeeded or faltered, and explains how the Chechen experience furnished templates for later securitisation application.