RUSSIA'S TINDERBOX - Belfer Center for Science and International ...

APPENDIX 2
The Islamic Factor in the North Caucasus
In spite of increasing ethnic Russian fears about the rise of Islamic Fundamentalism in the
North Caucasus and the formation of a single Islamic bloc across all the Muslim republics, there
have been no serious studies of the Islamic revival in the region since the collapse of the USSR. A
few general observations can, however, be made on the basis of Dr. Magomedkhanov’s research on
the issue since 1991. His research suggests that these fears are greatly exaggerated. 175
Russian fears about Islamic Fundamentalism are the result of a confluence of internal and
external factors:
• The increasing identification of the Russian state with the Russian Orthodox Church.
• The long-term anxiety generated by the Iranian Islamic revolution and its seeming export to
other Middle-Eastern and North African countries.
• The political influence of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Iran in the former Soviet
Union. 176
Beginning with the promulgation of a law in 1990 on the official celebration of the Russian
Orthodox Christmas across the entire Russian Federation, the Russian government has moved away
from the secularism of the Soviet period toward sponsorship of Russian Orthodoxy as the state
religion. Frequent meetings between President Yeltsin and leaders of the Church have consolidated
this relationship, and Russian nationalist parties now invoke the old Tsarist mantra of Russian
nationalism and Orthodoxy. The elevation of the Russian Orthodox Church has squeezed out other
Russian confessions, of which Islam is the most important. A total of about 12 million Muslims live
in the Russian Federation as a whole, which is equivalent to 4% of Russia’s population. Of these,
approximately 4 million live in the North Caucasus, where they account for 25% of the total
population of the region, including the Russian krais. 177
The fact that the majority of the Muslim population of the former Soviet Union––including
the population of the Central Asian republics––is concentrated on the southern border with Turkey,
175 See, for example, Magomedkhan Magomedkhanov, “The Revival of Islam and Islamic Publishing,”
Demokratizatsiya, Vol. II No.3, 1994, pp.493-497.
176 See also Vasil’eva and Muzaev, p.27. In this regard, Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been prominent in
assisting local Muslims in the construction of religious infra-structure, the development of scriptural Islam, and
the provision of scholarships for study abroad.
177 This figure is based on the total number of the traditionally Muslim peoples of the Russian Federation in the
1989 census. Figures for those who actually identify themselves as practicing Muslims are not presently
available.
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