Soviet Muslim Policy: Domestic and Foreign Policy Linkages

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the linkages between the Islamic nations and the Soviet Muslims, and how those linkages affect the relations between the Soviet Muslims and their own government, and between the Soviet government and the total international environment. These linkages are discussed in terms of the actors involved and the outputs which specific actors make in various settings and which, in turn, serve as inputs for other actors. The outputs are identified as direct if they are intended to bring about a response from another specific actor, as when an individual sends a request to an official organization. Ethnic groups with a Muslim cultural heritage constitute the largest non-Slavic element in Soviet history. They are a cohesive and dynamic segment of this society and their continued social and political development poses a number of fundamental dilemmas for the Soviet leadership, dilemmas which have wide implications for the Soviet political structure and for its foreign policy.