ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a historical and ethno-cultural survey of the northwestern Caucasus. It then focuses on the specifi c features of Islamic beliefs and practices in the region and highlights the differences that have emerged between the various republics of the north-western Caucasus as far as Islamic views and traditions are concerned. It also compares Islamic developments in the northwestern Caucasus with practices in the north-eastern Caucasus. Then, it proceeds to examine the post-Soviet Islamic dynamics in the region. It pays special attention to the evolution of the ideology and the activities of Islamic radicals and Islamic jamaats in the north-western Caucasus, and assesses the prospects of radical Islam developing in the region.
