Is the West “diverse”?
Is the “West” more diverse than the “rest”? In particular, are the traditionally Western Christian countries in Europe, and the United States, more religiously diverse than the rest of the world? When we compare the U.S. to countries that are somewhat comparable to it in terms of their population, the results are interesting. I suggest that the European and American scholars and publicists should at the very least refrain from calling their countries “religiously diverse,” when in fact they really are not.
The Christian Right and US Foreign Policy today
Religion is a significant voice in international relations and its increased prominence is due in no small measure, for western audiences at least, to the influence of the Christian Right in US domestic politics and international affairs. The resounding Democratic election victories in 2008 might suggest that the movement has reached its nadir and is no longer worthy of consideration, but thie movement is highly resilient.
Religion and International Affairs: From Neglect to Over-Emphasis
Religion, in the past, had influenced the behavior of international actors without determining it, although its role often went unnoticed. This situation, notwithstanding the new found fascination with the impact of religion on international affairs, has not changed. Religion is neither the source of conflicts and disputes nor a panacea for global problems.
Understanding Religion-Inspired Conflict and Peace
Religious dynamics (e.g. actors, worldviews, and cultures) infused numerous conflagrations in the 1990s including Bosnia, Rwanda, Afghanistan, and Sudan. Without giving credence to the notion that religion is the “problem” causing all today’s conflicts, how best can we understand the role that religious dynamics play in contemporary war and peace?
Beyond Secularism
Secularism has long been the language of most public servants and many scholars in the Western world, enabling both groups to work and live as though religions were irrelevant to their respective fields. This perspective has meant that religious phenomena have been ignored or reduced to other categories such as civil society, humanitarianism or as part of a definition of “civilization.”
In Defence of Dialogue of Civilizations
Warnings against the political construction of the Self through opposition to a negative-valued, dangerous or threatening Other are common at a time when the discourses of the clash of civilisations have acquired a worryingly prominent place in the public spheres of many different countries. But do we actually need ‘more’ religious and cultural traditions rather than less in order to oppose religiously-inspired political violence?
The Globalization of Religious Advocacy in America
National religious lobbies and advocacy organizations represent a growing phenomenon of political life in America. One of the striking recent developments is the globalization of the focus, constituencies, and vision of this religious political advocacy. From the beginning of the republic, national religious interest groups have focused periodically on international relations.
Transnational Religious Actors and International Order
In recent years, there have been a number of challenges to international order emanating from various entities, including ‘Islamic extremists’ and, more generally, those ‘excluded’ from the benefits of globalisation; sometimes they are the same people.
Religion and War in the Past and Future
The recent attacks in India suggest that the specter of religiously-motivated violence is not just back on the global agenda, but will be part of international affairs for years to come. Given what appears to be a jump in religiously-motivated violence over the last several years, what can we learn from past instances of religiously-motivated warfare to help us understand the present and future?
Politics of secularism and IR
It has been suggested that the rise of religion confronts IR theory with a theoretical challenge comparable to that of the end of the Cold War or the emergence of globalization. I agree. To understand why we need to turn to the politics of secularism. How might we think about secularisms, in the plural, as forms of political authority in contemporary international relations? What does this mean for IR theory and the resurgence of religion? What kinds of politics follow from different forms of secular commitments, traditions, habits, and beliefs?
