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MODERN RUSSIA: IDEOLOGY, POLITICS, CULTURE AND RELIGION
IGOR DOBAYEV. ISLAMIC STUDIES OF THE SOUTH OF RUSSIA (TO THE CENTENARY OF THE BIRTH OF THE SOVIET AND RUSSIAN SCIENTIST YURI A. ZHDANOV) //
The article was written for the bulletin "Russia and the Moslem world."
DOI: 10.31249/rmw/2019.04.01
Keywords: jihad, Zhdanov Yu.A., Islam, Islamism, Islamic studies, southern Russia.
Igor Dobayev,
DSc(Philosophy), Professor, Expert of Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of Center of Regional Studies, Institute of Sociology and Religion, Southern Federal University, Rostov-on-Don
The article is dedicated to the memory of Yuri A. Zhdanov
Abstract. The article dwells upon the role of a prominent Soviet / Russian scientist and politician Yuri A. Zhdanov in the formation and development of fundamental and applied Islamic studies in the South of Russia. The author makes reference to the names of Russian and Soviet scientists who made a significant contribution to this scientific direction, the names of those researchers who continued Islamic studies in Russia and its Southern region in the post-Soviet period. Readers' attention is focused on conflict-generating characteristics associated with the
ideological doctrine and political practice of the carriers of the provisions of the so-called "Pure Islam." In conclusion, it is said that in order to counter radical Islamists more effectively, it is necessary to step up efforts in the field of fundamental and applied Islamic studies, which requires help and support of the state.
On August 20, 2019, Yuri A. Zhdanov, an outstanding domestic thinker, scientist, and politician, would have turned 100 years old. In his youth, he headed the Department of Science of the Central Committee of the CPSU, later he headed the Rostov State University (RSU) for more than 30 years, and for the last decades he headed the North Caucasus Scientific Center of the Higher School (NCSC of HS). He made a huge contribution to the development of domestic science and education. Thanks to him, not only the RSU has become an authoritative center for fundamental and applied research, but in other subjects of the South of Russia there has been an increase in high-quality scientific and educational potential.
Yu.A. Zhdanov also planned to create a solid oriental school on the basis of the RSU, which could compete with the best educational and scientific institutions of Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). Within the framework of such a direction, according to Yuri A. Zhdanov, Islamic studies should have developed too. Not without reason, on the desktop of Yuri A. Zhdanov, one could constantly see the monograph of the famous Swiss Islamic scholar Adam Metz "The Moslem Renaissance," excerpts from which Yuri A. Zhdanov often used to quote. However, in the Soviet period it was not possible to implement this plan for a number of reasons, although the relevance of this sphere has never given raise to doubt, if only because of the geopolitical position of the South of Russia.
As it is known, Russian Islamic studies have a long history and have accumulated a solid reserve of knowledge, which is recognized by the world scientific community. A great
contribution to the study of Islam was made by pre-revolutionary Russian Islamic scholars, orientalists and philosophers: V.V. Bartold, V.A. Zhukovsky, E. Krymsky, N.A. Mednikov, V.R. Rozen, G.S. Sablukov, V. Slaviev, C.E. Tornau, A.E. Schmidt and others. During the Soviet period, fundamental and applied research was continued, first of all, by the Moscow and Leningrad Islamic study centers, among the outstanding scientists of this period one should name E.A. Belyaev, A.E. Bertels, O.G. Bolshakov, L.K. Klimovich, I.Yu. Krachkovsky, L.V. Negrya, N.A. Smirnov, I.P. Petrushevsky, M.B. Piotrovsky, L.V. Prozorov, R.I. Sultanov, E.A. Frolova and others. In the late Soviet and post-Soviet period these problems were studied by A.V. Vasiliev, L.S. Vasiliev, A.A. Ignatenko, G.M. Kerimov, N.S. Kirabaev, S.A. Kirillina, R.G. Landa, A.V. Malashenko, L.I. Medvedko, D.V. Mikulsky, G.V. Miloslavsky, V.V. Naumkin, L.R.Syukiyainen, A.Yu. Umnov, R.M. Sharipova and many others.
Interesting publications on contemporary political issues of Islam, including those in the North Caucasus, belong to representatives of a number of humanitarian institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences: V.O. Bobrovnikov, N.M. Emelyanova, A.V. Kudryavtsev, D.V. Makarov, D.B. Malysheva, K.I. Polyakov, S.M. Chervonnaya, A.A. Yarlykapov and others. These scholars, who previously studied mainly the problems of Moslem countries abroad, were among the first in our country in the post-Soviet period to study the state and development of Islam, primarily its politicized forms, in the North Caucasus region.
At the regional (North Caucasian) level, a serious contribution to understanding the problems of Islam was made by M.A. Abdullaev, A.V. Avksentiev, M.V. Vagabov, M.B. Muzhukhoev, M.N. Osmanov, R.A. Khanakhu. R. Shikhsaidov and others. However, Islamic scholars of the region, who are, in the main, representatives of Daghestan, up to the mid 90's of the twentieth century, mainly focused on the study of the pre-Islamic heritage, or medieval Islam, or considered Islam in the context of cultural issues.
Only in the last two decades there have appeared studies by scholars in the region that are directly related to the problems in modern Islam in the North Caucasus and their impact on the socio-political process. Among them, one should name, first of all, Z.M. Abdulagatov, V.Kh. Akaev, Z.S. Arukhova, E.F. Kisriev, E.V. Kratov, S.A. Lyausheva, G.A. Murklinskaya, K.M. Khanbabayev.
In the same period, in the North Caucasus region, thanks to the personal efforts of specific scientists, informal scientific structures for the study of Islam were created. In particular, this refers to the Center for Islamic Studies at the Daghestan State University, the originators of which were the Minister for Ethnic Affairs of the Republic of Daghestan, a prominent oriental scholar Z.S. Arukhov and an influential Islamic scholar in the region, professor of the DSU M.V. Vagabov, as well as to the Regional Center for Ethnopolitical Studies at the DSC, RAS. The scientists of these centers, in collaboration with the former Committee on Religious Affairs of the Republic of Daghestan, prepared and published numerous monographs and collections of scientific articles, held scientific conferences, seminars, and "round tables" on the problem.
In other subjects of the Southern Federal District, including the North Caucasus republics, successes in theoretical and applied Islamic studies are much more modest than in Daghestan. Nevertheless, there are, albeit a few, scholars of Islam. First of all, we are talking about scientists from Chechnya, Karachayevo-Circassia, Adygea and the Astrakhan region.
In a positive sense, the Rostov Region, where Islamic studies have been actively carried out over the past twenty years, stood out against the general South Russian background in the postSoviet period. An important milestone was the year 1999, when, on the basis of the Institute for Advanced Studies of Rostov State University, with the active support of Yu.A. Zhdanov, the Center for Systematic Regional Studies and Forecasting (now the Center for Regional Studies) was created. The head of it until the early death in February 2018 was the authoritative Caucasian expert
V.V. Chernous. Since 2001, the Center began to publish collections of scientific articles, monographs, and study guides under the heading "South Russian Review." Over the years of its activity, the Center has released 98 publications, 10 of which relate directly to Islamic issues. There were held several scientific conferences, seminars, and "round tables" on this subject.
In 2000, the author of this article passed PhD (Political Science) defense at the dissertation council of the North Caucasian Academy of Public Administration. The topic of the thesis was "Islamic radicalism in international politics (based on materials from the Near East, Middle East, and North Caucasus)." The leading organization was the Caucasus Institute at the Higher School of the NCSC, whose director was the authoritative Rostov scientist N.S. Avdulov. It was at this period that my personal acquaintance with Yu.A. Zhdanov took place. Yuri Andreevich, having read the materials of the thesis, was keenly interested in the areas of further research on the subject. In 2003, a doctoral thesis was defended at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the RSU (now the Institute of Sociology and Regional Studies of the Southern Federal University) for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy on the subject "Islamic Radicalism: Essence, Ideology, Political Practice." Yuri Andreevich took an active part in the meeting of the council, as well as in the discussion of the work presented, appreciating its relevance and quality.
Gradually, under my leadership, a layer of young Islamic scholars has formed up. Over the past years, the following scientists defended dissertations for the degree of PhD in political and sociological sciences: S.E. Berezhnoy ("Islamic fundamentalism in the North Caucasus"), H.T. Kurbanov ("Religious and political extremism in the North-East Caucasus: ideology and practice"), R.F. Pateev ("Political aspects of Moslem education in Russia: history and present time"), E.F. Sharafutdinova ("Ethnoconfessional factor in the Chechen conflict: politological analysis"), A.V. Sukhov ("Islamic movements in Central Asia and the North-East Caucasus: a comparative politological analysis"), O.V. Ryabtsev
("The network principle of the activities of closed organizations in the context of threats to the national and regional security of Russia (by the example of the Crimean Tatar national movement), N.E. Romanchenko ("Terrorist Islamist religious and political organizations in the North Caucasus: an institutional and political approach") , R.G. Hajibekov ("Internal factors of influence on the processes of politicization and radicalization of Islam in the Russian Federation"), N.A. Anisimova ("Network structures of terrorists in the North Caucasus: reasons for the formation and strategies of countermeasures"), A.Yu. Kruglova ("Destructive Islamist and Turkic-Islamic networks in the South of Russia: formation, interaction, activities and methods of counteraction"). Currently they work in government and management bodies, in scientific and educational institutions, in law enforcement agencies. R.F. Pateev, for example, is today heading the Center for Islamic Studies under the President of the Republic of Tatarstan, successfully working on his doctoral dissertation.
However, despite certain advances in Islamic studies in Southern Russia, in Rostov-on-Don in particular, disadvantages are obvious. So, until now in the region there are practically no official structures of Islamic studies within the framework of higher educational and scientific institutions that would have direct state funding. Individual scientists or their teams deal with these issues, as a rule, on their own initiative. All attempts to overcome this gap, including those within the framework of regional scientific centers of the Russian Academy of Sciences, still remain unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the situation associated with the so-called "Islamic factor" in the South of Russia, is far from ideal.
The overwhelming majority of the population of the North Caucasian republics profess Islam of the Sunni direction of Hanafite and Shafiite interpretations. Most of the believing Tatars, Kabardins, Adyghes, Circassians, Abazins, Balkars, Karachais, Nogais, Ossetians, Turkmens, Crimean Tatars, Sunni Azerbaijanis adhere to the Hanafi madhhab. Representatives of most indigenous peoples of Daghestan (except Nogais), Chechens and Ingushs, mainly follow
the Shafi's madhhab. The Moslems living in other regions of the South of Russia are, as a rule, Sunni Hanafites.
The number of followers of Shiite Islam in the North Caucasus is insignificant, and is represented by a small part of Lezghins and Dargins, as well as a large part of Azerbaijanis. They live mainly in the territory of Southern Daghestan.
In the North Caucasus there are also adherents of the non-Mosque Islam, represented by various Sufi orders (tariqahs). It is especially widespread among Daghestanis, Chechens and Ingush people, among whom brotherhoods of the orders of Naqshbandiyya and Kadiriyya (and Shaziliya in Daghestan) are also very influential. Kadiryts are often called Zikrists.
In modern conditions in the South of Russia there are functioning 11 Spiritual Administrations of Moslems (SAM). Moslem organizations of the region are coordinated by three centers: the Coordination Center for Moslems of the North Caucasus (CCMNC), as well as the Central Spiritual Administration of Moslems of Russia (CSAM, Ufa, Supreme Mufti T. Tajuddin) and the Spiritual Administration of Moslems of the European part of Russia (SAMER, Moscow, Mufti R. Gainutdin, he also heads the "Council of Muftis of Russia").
At the same time, with the rapid growth of Islamic identity of the North Caucasian peoples, religious illiteracy of the population remains. The traditional Moslem spiritual authorities (SAM) do not adequately control the situation. Extremist religious movements (the so-called Islamists) have serious ideological, organizational, and sometimes financial support from a number of Arab and other Islamic states. The introduction by Islamists of the values of the so-called "Pure Islam" leads to changing of the ethnic identity of local Moslems from North Caucasian (South Russian) to Arab (Arabian). This circumstance leads to fierce conflict between traditional Moslems and their "Arabized" opponents. At the same time, the regional spiritual administrations have many unresolved problems, which fact is still connected with the lack of a full-fledged state policy, which is still in the process of formation.
Despite the increase in the number of Islamic educational institutions in the North Caucasus, the quality of the educational process is still not up to par, which is still one of the reasons for young Moslems to leave the country in order to study in foreign educational centers. So, according to estimates, during the 1990s more than 4 thousand young people received Islamic education abroad. A certain part of them was indoctrinated in a radical way. Their subsequent activity after returning to their homeland, as a rule, came into conflict with the traditional Islamic trends in the North Caucasus.
Today in Russia, in general, more than 2 thousand imams have been educated abroad. About 3 thousand shakirds (students) are currently continuing their studies abroad, less than ten percent of them have official assignments of muftiyats. This indicates that the state does not sufficiently control the process of sending young people abroad to receive a Moslem education, with all the ensuing consequences.
Along with the revival and significant political activation of traditional Islam, especially the so-called "Official Islam" represented by the SAMs and the structures controlled by them, a previously little-known trend in Islam, the so-called "Wahhabism" ("pure Islam," Salafism), which is a radical religious and political movement in Sunni Islam is gradually trying to establish itself in the North Caucasus. In Russia, Islamism, including its radical forms, began to spread with the beginning of the revival processes in the late 80s - early 90s of the 20th century, with the active influence from abroad. The largest material and ideological external "sponsor" of the spread of radical Islamism in the Russian Federation was Saudi Arabia, as well as some other states of the Middle East. It was the expansion of the Saudi version of Islam (Wahhabism) that became the prologue to the strengthening of social conflict and then the political radicalism of Islamic groups in many republics of the North Caucasus. The followers of the Wahhabis sought to seize power by force, replace the existing legislation with Sharia norms and build an Islamic caliphate in a
number of territories of the Caucasus and the Volga region. The ideological and political position of the pseudo-Wahhabis, as well as strong foreign influence generated internal conflict in the Moslem communities of the North Caucasus.
The actions of the representatives of radical Islam are associated with the escalation of the armed conflict in Chechnya, open armed uprisings and terrorist acts in many other North Caucasian republics, as well as beyond their borders. Currently, although the measures taken by the state have led to a decrease in the potential and degradation of the terrorist "jamaats," nevertheless, the issue has not yet been settled up. Radical Islamists have formed a network, most often there exist "sleeping" terrorist cells, with the goal of committing a few, and sometimes even one terrorist attack. The network principle of building such groups allows them to act quite conspiratorially, which complicates their detection and neutralization.
The official statistics of specific political practices of similar groups of radical Islamists abroad seem relevant. For example, the U.S. National Anti-Terrorism Center (NCTC) in May 2009 published a report providing statistics on terrorist attacks in the world in 2008. According to the report, in 2008 there were 11,800 terrorist attacks, while in 2007 - 14,500, in 2006 - 14,000, in 2005 -11,000, and in 2004, according to the U.S. State Department, which did not take into account terrorist attacks in Iraq, - 3192. The largest number of terrorist attacks in 2008, amounting to 4600 (40%), were committed in the countries of the Near and Middle East, although in Iraq for 2 years in a row, in 2007-2008, their number was decreasing. At the same time, in the countries of South Asia (Pakistan, India) and in Afghanistan their number doubled. Terrorist acts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan accounted for 55% of the total number of terrorist attacks in the world. 140% increase in terrorist activity in Africa was recorded in Somalia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In the Western hemisphere in the indicated period there was recorded a decrease in the number of terrorist attacks by 25%, and by 30% in the
countries of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean. In 2008, the number of cases of kidnapping by terrorists increased significantly. So, in Pakistan it increased by 340%, in Afghanistan - by 100%, in India - by 30%, in other countries of South Asia - by 45% [1, p. 198].
As for the official statistics on terrorist manifestations in the Russian Federation and in its North Caucasus region, according to them, the peak occurred in 2005. Then, 251 terrorist attacks were recorded in the Russian Federation, more than 90% of them against law enforcement officials and executive authorities in the Southern Federal District. Over the next two years, the official statistics, showed a steady decline in the number of terrorist acts. So, in 2006, 112 terrorist attacks were recorded, of which again at least 90% were attributed to the south of Russia. In subsequent years, official statistics indicated a further decline in terrorist activity. Such dynamics gave rise to some experts to argue that a turning point had come, and in the future, terrorist activity would be reduced to zero [2, p. eleven].
However, it should be emphasized that in connection with the amendments to the criminal law as of 2006, the concept of a terrorist act has narrowed significantly. In order to qualify a crime as a terrorist act, it is imperative that the goal were to influence decision-making by authorities or international organizations. Therefore, strange as it sounds, terrorist acts in our country since that period have become a rather rare crime. So, in 2007 there were only 48 terrorist attacks, that is, five times less than in the "dashing" 2005, and more than half as much as in 2006. In 2008, only 2 terrorist attacks were recorded in the Russian Federation (one -in Daghestan and one in North Ossetia-Alania) [1, p. 193-195].
Nevertheless, in 2009 we again witnessed a kind of "return to 2005," although in digital terms, for the reasons noted above, the number of terrorist attacks looks rather modest. So, for example, in 2009 in the Russian Federation, only 6 terrorist attacks were recorded (two and two in Daghestan and Chechnya, one in Ingushetia and one in the Tver region), in 2010 there were already 23 attacks (11 in Daghestan, 3 in the Stavropol Territory, 2 and 2 -
in Moscow and Ingushetia, one each - St. Petersburg, Kabardino-Balkaria, North Ossetia-Alania, Krasnodar Territory and Orel).
However, if we look at the statistics submitted by the law enforcement system of the Southern Federal District at that time, we can say that the situation in the district in 2009 was characterized by a sharp increase in terrorist activity of illegal armed groups: 641 attacks were made on the lives of law enforcement officials and military personnel (491 in 2008, an increase of 30%). In 2009 alone, in the Southern Federal District there were killed: 251 law enforcement officers and military men, as well as 32 civilians (in 2008, 210 security officers and 12 civilians, respectively), 727 law enforcement officials and 85 civilians were injured (in 2008, 484 security officers and 68 civilian). In 2010, 23 criminal cases were initiated under article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (terrorism), but the records include 273 explosions and 492 shooting attacks, 14 suicide bombers blew themselves up. As a result, 410 people died, and more than a thousand were injured [1, p. 196].
Thus, the sabotage -terrorist activity of radical Islamists in the 2000s continued to be a significant factor in the destabilization of political processes in the Russian South, and not only there. The practice of re-qualifying terrorist attacks as other articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation did not reduce the intensity of terrorism, but only camouflaged the real situation, disorienting the authorities and administrations, as well as those who were actually fighting the terrorists.
However, by the end of the second decade of the 21 century the situation began to change for the better everywhere. So, the French Jane's Center for the Study of Terrorism (JTIC) of the international expert company IHS Markit published a report that said about reduction in the number of terrorist acts in the world by one third. "During 2018, JTIC recorded 15 321 terrorist attacks carried out by non-governmental armed groups. As a result of these attacks 13 thousand 483 people who were not military personnel were killed. The number of attacks is significantly lower
(by 33.2%) than the number of attacks recorded in 2017. "This is the lowest figure since 2011," said the head of the center, Matthew Henman. The number of victims of terrorist attacks has also decreased: in 2018, 25% fewer people died than in 2017. The number of attacks made by the ISIS has also decreased. Afghanistan remains the "most dangerous country in the world," only last year 4180 people died there because of terrorism. JTIC analysts attribute such findings to the international fight against terrorism at the global level. In total, according to the analytical center, in 2018 terrorist groups operated in 90 countries of the world, in 2017 - in 116 countries [3].
The situation in the Russian Federation has also changed for the better, which is due, first of all, to the fact that the Russian security agencies and law enforcement bodies have noticeably intensified their activities in recent years. So, the Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Nikolai Patrushev said that in 2018 in Russia 9 crimes of a terrorist nature and only one terrorist attack were committed, and in the world there is a downward tendency in terrorist activity. Patrushev associates such indicators with the effective work of special services and law enforcement bodies in our country. In total, in 2017, according to him, 36 crimes of a terrorist nature were prevented, including 20 terrorist attacks. The Secretary of the Security Council also noted that if in 2014 the number of terrorist attacks in the world reached almost 16 thousand, in recent years the mark has dropped to about 10 thousand. In the Middle East, terrorist activity decreased by 2 times, in South Asia - by a third. The largest scale of terrorist activity was recorded in Afghanistan. Against this background, the situation in Russia looks stable: over 5 years, the activity of terrorism has decreased by more than 20 times [4].
The fact that the situation in the Russian Federation in the field of countering terrorism remains difficult, but controlled by law enforcement agencies, was confirmed by the director of the FSB of Russia, A.V. Bortnikov. At a joint meeting of the National Anti-Terrorism Committee and the Federal Operational
Headquarters on December 11, 2018, he said that as a result of the implementation of a set of measures in 2018, the number of terrorist crimes committed was significantly reduced, and the number of terrorist attacks decreased. Thus, in the course of counter-terrorist operations and individual covert military measures 65 militants were neutralized, including 10 leaders of bandit groups; 36 leaders, 236 bandits and 589 accomplices were detained. The activities of 37 terrorist cells that planned to organize terrorist attacks in the republics of Daghestan, Ingushetia, the Chechen Republic and the Stavropol Territory were stopped. A number of measures have been taken to increase the effectiveness of preventive work. The coordinated activities of all counterterrorism entities made it possible to prevent terrorist manifestations during the election of the President of the Russian Federation and the 2018 World Cup. According to him, control over migration flows has been strengthened in order to prevent terrorists from using them. The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Border Service of the FSB of Russia have closed the entry for more than 10 thousand people suspected of involvement in terrorist and extremist activities, and also prevented the departure of more than 60 Russian and foreign citizens in the zones of armed conflict in the Middle East. The activity of more than 64 thousand Internet resources disseminating unlawful information, of which over 47 thousand contained materials related to the activities of international terrorist organizations (ITO) was put under restraint. The Committee has developed organizational measures to counter the financing of terrorism and combat arms trafficking, taking into account recent changes in the operational environment. The criminal liability for facilitating terrorist activities, as well as for knowingly false reporting of a terrorist attack, has been strengthened, the propaganda of terrorism has been criminalized [5].
At the same time, stressed A.V. Bortnikov, terrorist threats associated with the activities of international terrorist organizations remain. The leaders of ITO do not abandon their intentions to form conspiratorial cells in the territory of the Russian
Federation and to realize their criminal intentions with their help. This is facilitated by the propaganda of the ideology of terrorism, mainly carried out via telecommunication channels and aimed mainly at young people, including minors. The largest number of manifestations of terrorism, as before, is recorded in the North Caucasus Federal District. At the same time, ITO are making attempts to spread terrorist activity to other regions of the country, including such methods as attracting migrants from Central Asian countries as perpetrators of terrorist crimes [5].
In order to increase the effectiveness of countering these threats in 2019, the Director of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation demanded to develop and implement a set of measures to improve the organization and coordination of the activities of all counterterrorism entities. In his opinion, it is required to ensure the use on a regular basis of the results of monitoring political, socio-economic and other processes in order to timely identify terrorist threats and have a real impact on the situation. It is also necessary to step up efforts to further reduce terrorist activity and prevent its spread in the territory of the Russian Federation, to protect the information space from the ideology of terrorism. More systematic organization of interagency cooperation should be given to counteracting the spread of radical views among migrants and to prevent the penetration of supporters of international terrorist organizations into the territory of Russia through migration channels. The vulnerability of potential targets of terrorist attacks and places of mass stay of people should be reduced. Along with strict observance of the requirements for anti-terrorist protection of facilities, it is necessary to increase the level of professional training and personal responsibility of specialists involved in its provision. On a planned basis, it is necessary to continue carrying out measures to neutralize terrorist threats in the territory of the North Caucasus Federal District and reduce the level of radicalization of its residents, including by intensifying the work of the executive
authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation in the field of terrorism prevention [5].
Seemingly, almost all of the above provisions are built in line with the so-called "narrow" approach to blocking terrorism, which consists in improving anti-terrorism legislation, strengthening special services and law enforcement agencies, countering the financing of terrorism and increasing the effectiveness of ideological propaganda and awareness-raising among the population.
However, it should be noted that terrorism is not just a normal criminal act, but, and this is very important, it is a special, very dangerous socio-political phenomenon. It is determined by numerous external and internal conflict-generating factors and the internal ones are more dangerous. Among them, the traditionally noted key ones are: political, socio-economic, demographicmigration and ethno-confessional. Moreover, these groups of factors are feeding each other. Localizing some of them, but missing others, it is difficult to count on success. At different times, these or other of them come to the fore or fall to secondary positions. At present, among the most dangerous internal conflict-generating factors, experts single out socio-economic ones, among them the ongoing on unbelievable scale property stratification and desocialisation of state policy.
As the well-known Russian political scientist V. Krasheninnikova writes, "It is for this reason that the power rating in 2018 went down without the efforts of external enemies, only by the decisions of the Russian authorities. With the onset of 2019, objective circumstances for the growth of protest were added, again, by the decisions of the Russian government. The introduction of new taxes - an increase in VAT by 2%, a tax on self-employed 4% (6%) and an increase in prices: utilities by 4.1%, gasoline, parking, other levies, up to the possible "sausage tax," plus growth of prices due to weakening of the ruble exchange rate, all this means that Russians will feel a new burden on their wallet in the coming months. And all this in addition to raising the retirement age and deceived expectations for a change in the course
after the presidential election" [6]. The same author emphasizes that "justice and the social welfare state are the most important requests of citizens today. According to opinion polls, two-thirds of Russians speak nostalgically about the Soviet era. And this nostalgia is not for one's own youth, as the propagandists want to suggest, and not for the 19 kopecks-ice-cream. People want appropriate free education and healthcare, equality before the law, and fair distribution of income. The December report-study of a number of experts "The autumn shift in the sentiments of Russians: a transient episode or a new trend?" also notes a sharp increase in intangible needs, such as freedom, respect, fair elections" [6].
Thus, with regard to the problem of reliable blocking of terrorism, it seems that both "broad" and "narrow" approaches should be used in solving this problem, plus further fundamental and applied research on Islamic and Islamist issues in the South of Russia is necessary. For this, state support is indispensable. All of the above, of course, requires improving the quality of Islamic studies in our country, what Yuri Andreevich Zhdanov warned about at his time.
References
1 Dobaev I.P. Radicalization of Islam in modern Russia. Moscow, Rostov- on-Don: "Sotsialno-gumanitarnye znaniya [Social and humanitarian knowledge], 2014. p. 332
2. Dobaev I.P. Modern terrorism in the world and in the North Caucasus: essence, practice, experience of counteraction // Reference. 2010. November.
3. France announced reduction of terrorist attacks in the world [Electronic resource]. URL: http: // www.ncpti.su/news/6772/ (date of access: May 26, 2019).
4. Patrushev: in 2018, in Russia there was committed one terrorist attack [Electronic resource]. URL: http: //www/ncpti.su/news/6772/ (date of access: May 26, 2019).
5. Opening statement by the Chairman of the NAC, Director of the FSB of Russia A.V. Bortnikov at a joint meeting of the NAC and FOH [Electronic resource]. URL: http: //www.nac.gov.ru/hublicacii/vystuplenija-i-intervju/vstupitelnoe-slovo-predsedatelya-nak-1.html (date of access: May 26, 2019).
6 Krasheninnikova V.Yu. Turbulence: who is responsible for it? / / Literaturnaya gazeta[ Literary newspaper]. - 2019. - 23.Jan.
