With the rise of Gorbachev, attention throughout the Soviet Union has increasingly been concentrated on the problems of minorities, and in several cases violence has flared as "subject peoples" of the USSR seek autonomy. The largest minority in the Soviet Union is the Moslems, and their numbers are sharply increasing, both absolutely and proportionately to the rest of the population. This is a study of the impact of Islam on Soviet policy and culture, based on first-hand experience and personal contact with, amongst others, "rebel" leaders such as Nagorna Karabkh. The author comes to some conclusions about the future of a movement which after the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan will increasingly come to dominate thinking in the Kremlin. Amir Taheri has also written "The Spirit of Allah", "Holy Terror", "The Cauldron" and "Nest of Skies".