Publication

This commentary contends that the eastern part of the Northern Caucasus region is culturally and socially breaking away from the rest of the Russian Federation. In other words, the area increasingly resembles the Middle East – i.e., 1) Islam is the organizing principle behind socio-political life there; 2) Sufism and Salafism are locally at loggerheads with each other; and 3) conflicts within the Muslim community, which often involve bloodshed, are the key shapers of regional dynamics.