"We Pray for Our President": Saudi-Inspired Loyalist Salafism and the Business Sector in Kazakhstan

Author: Aurélie Biard

January 28, 2019

This working paper by Aurélie Biard examines the dissemination strategies of the transnational Salafi movement in post-Soviet Kazakhstan through the study of its connections with the local business sector. This case study seeks to provide a snapshot of the specific—and significant—ways in which economic entrepreneurs are becoming local drivers of the dissemination of Saudi-based loyalist Islam.

This working paper was written as part of the Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power project, a partnership between Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Brookings Institution supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.  

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