Russian-Egyptian Cooperation in the Religious Sphere in the First Quarter of the 21st Century

The article considers the mechanisms, forms, and areas of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt in the religious sphere in the first quarter of the 21st century, taking into account the increasing role of the ethno-confessional factor in international relations, in particular, in bilateral relations of multicultural societies such as Russian and Egyptian. The relevance of the research is determined by the growing importance of the religious factor in international relations, its impact on bilateral relations between states, and the emergence of a new model of world order as a whole. The chronological framework of the study covers the first quarter of the 21st century, when the formation and development of cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Arab Republic of Egypt in the religious sphere took place. The research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, scientific objectivity, credibility, systems analysis, and others. The systemic method allowed examining the religious dialogue between Russia and Egypt as a complex process. The use of the chronological and logical methods made it possible to examine the material in accordance with historical facts. The author studies bilateral relations within the framework of a civilizational approach. The author concludes that in the first quarter of the 21st century the importance of religious dialogue increased, as it became an active participant in the political process. Russian-Egyptian cooperation in the religious sphere has a long history and is based on centuries-old traditions. From 2000 to 2025, it developed in partnership of Russian and Egyptian religious institutions: the Russian Orthodox Church and the Coptic Church, the Russian Orthodox Church and Al-Azhar, and the Religious Board of Muslims of the Russian Federation and Al-Azhar. In this interaction, four main areas can be identified: dialogue between religious institutions, educational sphere, countering radicalism, extremism, and terrorist ideology, and religious tourism. Despite the existing difficulties (the ambiguous attitude of Egyptian institutions toward the expansion of the influence of the Russian Orthodox Church in Africa, the severance of relations with the Alexandrian Patriarchate, restrictions on the activities of the Russian community in Egypt, concerns of the Russian expert community regarding the expansion of al-Azhar's influence on the Russian ummah), the successful development of these contacts was facilitated by a number of factors: the geopolitical situation, personal contacts between the heads of religious institutions, the common interests of institutional structures, and the presence of universal values.