A Word from the Guest Editor: The Problem of Radical Islam in the Post-Soviet Space
A Word from the Guest Editor: The Problem of Radical Islam in the Post-Soviet Space

Summary/Abstract: The collapse of the Soviet Union, the acquisition of sovereignty by the former republics, the emergence of an ideological vacuum, the search for identity and – as a consequence – the growth of nationalist and separatist sentiments led to socio-political instability and economic crisis throughout the post-Soviet space. In such socio-political circumstances, religion became a means of expressing national identity for many during this period. At the same time, the emergence of new republics in the post-Soviet space intensified the processes of penetration of new religious teachings, ohen radical in nature, into Central Asia, the South Caucasus and some other regions of Russia. Emissaries from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and other Muslim countries poured into Russia, Transcaucasia and Central Asia, carrying their own interpretation of Islam, ohen contradicting the traditional one professed by the peoples who inhabited these territories for centuries.

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