ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at some of the broader Soviet sociopolitical trends that are likely to have shaped and influenced young Muslim recruits' attitudes toward serving in the Soviet army and the war in Afghanistan. Perhaps the most important of these is a massive demographic shift in the Soviet population that has resulted in a dramatic increase in the proportion of non-Slavs, and especially Muslims. The demographic problem, in the Kremlin's view, has been compounded by an intense reawakening of interest in Islam as a religion, as well as a culture and indeed a way of life, on the part of Soviet Muslims. Racial epithets and slurs are used on a regular basis, and Muslim soldiers are routinely assigned the most menial and demeaning jobs. The ability of Muslim conscripts to converse freely in Russian, an essential prerequisite for effective service in the Soviet army, continues to be limited and may even be declining.
