The article examines the Western European and Russian approaches to accepting Islam as a part of their identity. A comparative analysis of the history of Islam in the Western European and Russian societies allows understanding the reasons Russia has been more successful in integrating the Muslim community and fighting Islamic extremism. The roots of Islamophobia and Western supremacy have been analyzed from a historical perspective to understand the reasons of a conflictive relation between Islam and the West. The analysis proposes Europeans should reconstruct the concept of nation and appropriate Islam to create a wider identity as a solution for the problem of integration of Muslims and the fight against extremism in Western Europe.

Gonzalez Cedillo Joel Ivan, Postgraduate, Department of International Relations, Department of International Relations, Saint-Petersburg State University, 7/9, University Embankment, Saint-Petersburg, 199034, Russian Federation, tel.: 8(812)3241270, e-mail: ivangzz.ced@gmail.com

Gonzalez Cedillo J. I. The Islamic Identity of Russia in Changing Europe. The Bulletin of Irkutsk State University. Series Political Science and Religion Studies. 2018, vol. 26, pp. 97-104. https://doi.org/10.26516/2073-3380.2018.26.97

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