The article examines the conceptual views of modern American historians on the confessional policy of Russia towards Islam. The objects of the research are the works of American historians who study the policy of the Russian Empire in relation to Islam in the context of the “new imperial history”, that makes it possible to consider the theoretical component of the models of imperial power. American scholars reveal the process of institutionalizing the Muslim confession and increasing the role of Islam as a means of integrating peoples into the empire. It also provides a general description of the large stages and aspects of the realization of the confessional policy of the Russian Empire in the context of changes in the external and internal political situation. The attention is especially focused on the degree of coverage by American scientists of the position of Islam in the conditions of the formation of the Russian Empire as a nation state. Also, they raise the question of the role of religious identity as national in the context of the religious policy. In the conclusion, the results are summed up and the problem aspects of the topic under consideration are indicated for the purpose of its further study. The content of the author's concept is reflected on the evolution of the policy of the
Russian Empire in regarding to Islam.

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