Scholars Crossing Faculty Publications and Presentations Helms School of Government January 2009 North Caucasus Baseline Project: Adygea Oxana Klimenko Stephen R. Bowers Liberty University,
[email protected] Lena Solovyeva Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs Recommended Citation Klimenko, Oxana; Bowers, Stephen R.; and Solovyeva, Lena, "North Caucasus Baseline Project: Adygea" (2009). Faculty Publications and Presentations. 18. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/18 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Helms School of Government at Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. North Caucasus Baseline Project: Adygea Oxana Klimenko Stephen R. Bowers Lena Solovyeva Phone Contact: 540/421-7174 Executive Summary As of 2007, there are few signs that the Muslim community of the Adygea Republic embraces the radical Islamic tendencies seen in other parts of the North Caucasus. There is no reason to suppose that the socio-political situation in the republic is being aggravated by the Islamic revival in places such as Chechnya. Yet, there are trends that threaten to change this. The influx of Middle Eastern men, especially Muslim clerics, who visit the region on a regular basis, is a source of popular unease. Given the fact many Muslims in Adygea distrust the local clergy, the Middle Eastern missionaries working in the republic may eventually enlist support for radical Islam. The Adygh people are more likely to define themselves in terms of ethnicity than in terms of their religious affiliations.