Russia and Islam: State, Society and Radicalism

Front Cover
Roland Dannreuther, Luke March
Taylor & Francis, 2010 - Political Science - 253 pages

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, both the Russian state and Russia's Muslim communities have struggled to find a new modus vivendi in a rapidly changing domestic and international socio-political context. At the same time as Islamic religious belief and practice have flourished, the state has become increasingly concerned about the security implications of this religious revival, reflecting and responding to a more general international concern over radicalised political Islam. This book examines contemporary developments in Russian politics, how they impact on Russia's Muslim communities, how these communities are helping to shape the Russian state, and what insights this provides to the nature and identity of the Russian state both in its inward and outward projection. The book provides an up-to-date and broad-ranging analysis of the opportunities and challenges confronting contemporary Muslim communities in Russia that is not confined in scope to Chechnya or the North Caucasus, and which goes beyond simplistic characterisations of Muslims as a 'threat'. Instead, it engages with the role of political Islam in Russia in a nuanced way, sensitive to regional and confessional differences, highlighting Islam's impact on domestic and foreign policy and investigating sources of both radicalisation and de-radicalisation.

 

Contents

1 Introduction
1
2 Russian discourses and approaches to Islam and Islamism
9
3 Russian approaches to radicalism and extremism as applied to nationalism and religion
26
4 State approaches to Muslim integration in Russia France and Britain in comparative perspective
44
Russia Britain France
63
Muslim Moscow?
84
Islam entwined with nationalism
103
8 Divergent trends of Islamic radicalization in Muslim Russia
122
Objectives methods and achievements
155
11 Kadyrovs strategy against extremism in Chechnya
175
The role of Russia
191
From idealism to pragmatism
209
14 Conclusion
222
Bibliography
230
Index
246
Copyright

9 The radicalization of North Caucasian Muslims
137

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About the author (2010)

Roland Dannreutheris Professor and Head of the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Westminster, UK.Luke Marchis a Senior Lecturer in Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics at the School of Social and Political Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK.