What are the political consequences of growing religiosity in Russia and China—two countries that share a communist past and thus a long history of atheism, but that have followed very different political and economic trajectories since the 1980s? In this book, which is based upon nearly two years of fieldwork in multiple sites within these two countries, I carry out a systematic comparison of the relations between religious communities, on the one hand, and the Chinese and Russian states, on the other. This comparison leads to five conclusions. First, there is strong evidence that religious groups are playing an increasingly important role in the political economy of both states. Second, while Moscow and Beijing have set the parameters on religious expression, it is at the local level where the interactions between religion and politics actually take place and where, as a consequence, the relationship between the two sets of players is defined. Third, in direct contrast to what the literature on civil society within authoritarian states suggests, church and local-state relations in both Russia and China are collaborative, not conflictual. Just as religious groups court those in power, so local governments rely on these groups to take on some of the responsibilities of governance. Fourth, collaboration is not based on faith; rather, it is based on convergent interests, with bargaining between religious communities and the state focusing on the distribution of money, power and prestige. Indeed, material, not spiritual concerns drive most of their interactions with each other. Finally, not all religious communities are equally effective at forging alliances with the state. Thus, Muslims and Protestants alike—as opposed to the members of the more dominant religions within each of these countries—must rely on their cultural and economic capital to provide the leverage they need to secure a place in the transition.