Religion in the Caucasus: Christianity, Islam and Political Choices from the Perspective of New Cultural Identities

This chapter examines the factors that throughout the centuries have influenced the religious and credal choices of Caucasian populations, and the influence that such choices have had in turn on the formation of their national and cultural identities. Particular attention is dedicated to the way in which Christianity in the Caucasus was considered Europe’s religious expression par excellence, as well as to its influence on the construction of the “modern” and “democratic” states in the Caucasus. Finally, to demonstrate that in modern times it is not always possible to use religion to determine the cultural and political choices of a group, the chapter examines some conflicts in the Caucasus that broke out because of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and that have not yet been resolved.