ABSTRACT
A few years ago Aleksei Malashenko, one of Russia’s leading (and most reliable) experts on Islam predicted that Islam was “Russia’s fate.” This may be an exaggeration but not perhaps by very much. Demography is also Russia’s fate; if the situation and the prospects would be less critical, Islam would be less of a threat. With equal justice it could be said that Russia’s historical misfortune (and fate) is its obsession with non existing dangers and ignoring the real ones facing it. Stalin, it will be recalled, trusted no one, especially not old Bolsheviks, but he was certain that Hitler would not attack the Soviet Union. It is a fascinating syndrome and one that has become again of crucial importance with the reemergence of Russia as an important player in world politics.
