Vol 22, No 4 (2020): RELIGION IN POLITICS AND POLITICS IN RELIGION

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In the article analyzed the social and political consequences of pandemic of coronavirus for the Russian Orthodox Church in the context of the reaction of different European churches on the quarantine rules and critics towards the church inside Russia. The author used the structural-functional and institutional approaches for the evaluation of the activity of the Russian Orthodox Church, was analyzed the sources of mass-media and the public claims of the clergy. In the article was made a conclusion that Orthodox Church expressed itself during the struggle with coronavirus as national civic institute where could be represented various even polar views. Also the parish activity leads to the formation of the democratic society affiliated with the Church and the role of that phenomenon have to be explored in a future. The coronacrisis makes open the inner potential of the civic activity and different forms of the social service in Russian Church. In the same time pandemic provoked the development of the volunteer activity in the around-church environment and also in the non-church circles among the young people and the generation of 40th age where the idea of the social responsibility for themselves and people around and the significance of the civil rights was one of the popular ideas till 2019. The conditions of the self-isolation also forced the clergy to struggle for their parishioners and once again renovate the role of the church in the society and in the cyber space.

The aim of the article is to study the phenomenon of religious nationalism, i.e. cases when religion and nationalism are closely related and reinforce each other, and religious identity becomes an important and integral part of national identity. The author aims to analyze the political context of cases of religious nationalism in European countries, to describe their essential features and conditions of occurrence, and also to answer the question: are there any political reasons for religious nationalism? Considering the phenomenon of nationalism in the framework of the constructivist approach, the author also employs the methods of comparative analysis, using material from such countries as Ireland, Poland, Greece, the countries of the former Yugoslavia, as well as the Russian case taking place in the Chechen Republic. Summarizing these cases, the author describes the conditions for the emergence of an “alliance” of religion and nationalism. Firstly, it is a religious difference between neighboring communities. Secondly, it is a conflict between them, which contains a threat to identity. In these cases, religion becomes an important marker that distinguishes communities from each other, and begins to perform non-religious functions: the affirmation of national identity, ethnic pride, national honor, protection of sovereignty, and culture. Religious nationalism always stimulates growth of religious commitment of a nation, in which the number of believers may reach 90 percent. But this commitment is not individual, it is not based on a personal choice of faith, but collective and obligatory. Religious affiliation is dictated by loyalty to the nation.

The author analyzed the role of the elites of the Baltic countries in the choice of foreign policy priorities in the period after the declaration of independence. The process of determining the course towards the Euro-Atlantic is inscribed in the sub-regional context, taking into account the current Russian-Baltic political interaction. The study of power groups was carried out on the basis of an examination of large-scale socio-political transformations along with an analysis of individual practices. A comprehensive study of the transformation of the political elites of Baltic states as small countries, involves consideration of both the domestic and foreign policy aspects. The thesis is put forward that, despite a number of differences in the Baltic states, since the 1990s there were similar processes of transformation of political elites. The elite formation was due to the principle of state continuity as continuity with the pre-war regimes of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia and as a break with the Soviet period, including the EuroAtlantic course as the key priority of the foreign policy. The consolidation of deep divisions in the societies of the Baltic states - ethnic, linguistic, political - was the result of the elite struggle for power in the 1990s. After the implementation of the idea of «Back to the West» the elites of the Baltic states replaced it with a «Russian threat», which made it possible to postpone overcoming internal divisions fraught with weakening of their power.

The article examines the problem of finding an appropriate power-sharing model for a divided society with cleavages along religious, linguistic, cultural and ethnic lines. Two key approaches to the institutional management of ethnoreligious diversity, consociationalism and centripetalism, are studied. The theoretical framework then applied to the city-state Singapore, a secular nation-state with a dominant ethnic group. The article states that the individual ethno-religious segments aware of their socio-political role can not be detected in the nation-state, whose citizens lack clear ethnic and religious identification, as a result of the “culturally neutral citizenship” concept application. The authors conclude that a centripetalist approach can theoretically be applicable to Singapore as the role of the unifying centre is played by the PAP, representing all ethnic groups and religions. However, the city-state could be threatened by conflicts between different segments due to religious self-radicalization, and these conflicts could be prevented through the use of consociational mechanisms.

The purpose of the article is to trace the connection between the change in the religious policy of the state and the anti-clerical protests of the 2016-2020s. Statements against Church restitution and the construction of churches have caused extensive discussion, which has given rise to a number of contradictory, sometimes mutually exclusive interpretations. According to the author, the reason for these protests was not private reasons, but deeper reasons related to the religious policy of the state. The author pays special attention to changes in religious legislation, which led to increased control over the private life of citizens and infringement of the right to freedom of ideological choice. The article points out that the religious issue has divided Russian society: the ruling class on the one hand, and a significant part of citizens on the other, have become increasingly different in understanding the place and role of religion in the life of the country. According to the author, the protests in Yekaterinburg, St. Petersburg, and Moscow were special cases of numerous manifestations of politicization of society and growing dissatisfaction with the state of state-confessional relations in modern Russia. The author concludes that the degree of conflict, the high level of solidarity actions, a diverse and resonant series of events, as well as the level of ideological discussion allow us to classify these events as political and plebiscite.

The paper focuses on the relationships that have developed over the past 30 years of the post-secularity period between the state and Islamic structures and communities using the example of the Republic of Tatarstan as a region with a significant Muslim population. Based on the data of 14 in-depth interviews with the experts, imams and residents of Tatarstan, it is shown that the secular power controls the Islamic community and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims and plays a dominant role in the interaction between the state and Islamic organizations. The modern processes of re-Islamization are associated with the risks caused by Islamic globalization which may lead to the loss of regional Islamic tradition and threaten the stability of the Republic. The state has strengthened control over the religious sphere in this context and has charged the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Republic of Tatarstan with an important task of neutralizing and preventing extremism. The main ways to overcome radicalization of believers are educational activities with special attention paid to young people and work for training Muslim clergy. The paper also analyzes whether it is possible to observe the principle of secularism. Special attention is paid to the description of the two main parts that make up the Muslim Ummah of Tatarstan, their different attitudes to the issue of the state intervention in the affairs of Islam and the reaction that they received from the state and official Islamic organizations. The Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Tatarstan is forced to respond to the demands of not only the state, but also ordinary Muslims. However, it can hardly cope with the request to be a buffer between the secular authorities and the Islamic community.

In a post-industrial society, radical Islam has undergone significant evolutionary changes, that contributed to its transformation from a religious ideology to a political one. The key element of the updated doctrine was the idea of creating a world Islamic state - caliphate - through global jihad. This article explores a new stage in the history of the phenomenon of Islamic radicalism, which has developed outside the Muslim world, where it has acquired features of a specific subculture. Global jihad is gaining popularity among young Muslims in Europe, the US, and Southeast Asia. A variety of cultural manifestations of Islamism, united by the term «jihadi-cool», form an attractive image of a Salafist-jihadists through a special manner of clothing, new types of music (jihad rap and jihad rock), etc. Members of this subculture tend to join terrorist organizations, spread radical ideas among young people and attract new supporters. One of the most important causes of the radicalization of Muslims in Europe and the Americas is considered to be the complex socio-economic and cultural preconditions created by Western policies towards the States of the Middle East and the local Muslim diaspora. As part of the research, a historical-genetic analysis of the evolutionary transformations of Islamic radicalism has been conducted. The statistical method has been used to track the number of terrorist acts in the EU and the USA. Content analysis has been applied in the article in order to examine lyrics of jihad-rap musical compositions. The interdependence of jihad-rap popularity and the general interest in the ideology of jihad has been assessed based on the analysis of statistics of search queries. Biographical methods have been used to study the relationship between belonging to a jihadist subculture and joining radical Islamic organizations. The results of the study demonstrate, first of all, the high adaptability of Islamic radicalism to the changing conditions of the global world. Secondly, they indicate the specific evolution of a phenomenon that gradually overcomes sectarian differences. And third, they note increasing prevalence of this destructive doctrine in Europe, USA, South and Southeast Asia. All the results confirm that Islamic radicalism is not a local phenomenon, but a real threat to global political stability.

The Republic of Indonesia is characterized by ethnic and religious diversity. Islam is the most widespread religion in Indonesia and most of the Indonesian population is Muslim. Indonesian society is based on the principles of religious tolerance. The equality of people is the most important socio-political value of the Indonesian society, which guarantees an equality for allpeople, regardless of their ethnicity, religion or social class. Religion can be the foundation that can strengthen the country and become the foundation for development. At the same time, religion may not be the official state ideology. We study the relationship between religion and state in Indonesia. What problems arise in the relationship between religion and the state? This study aims to find out how Islam and politics in Indonesia are in harmony with the ideology of the Indonesian nation and how religious values can support moral foundations of Indonesian politics. We used analyze secondary sociological data and studied researches of the largest Indonesian academics on the problems of the relationship between religion and politics. We used the method of library research with abstracting and collecting data. A new set of scientific sources in the Indonesian language is being introduced into scientific circulation. The results of the study showed that Indonesia is not a democracy based on the principles of democratic processes of Western Europe. The peculiarity of Indonesia lies in the interaction of religious values and the politics. Indonesian politics is characterized by religious tolerance. At the same time, religious and cultural values are incorporated into the political practices of Indonesia in the form of moral and ethical guidelines. Thus, Indonesia is not a religious or secular country, but a country where religious values are the moral and ethical main ideology of state development.