Religion and International Relations: What do we know and how do we know it?

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 63171

Special Issue Editor

School of Social Sciences, London Metropolitan University, London N7 8DB, UK
Interests: religion; international relations; democratisation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Twenty years after 9/11 the study of religion and international relations is in flux. Some see the key issue to be the impact of religion on international conflicts. Others stress the multiple roles of both state and non-state actors in relation to international co-operation, focused on collective efforts to tackle pressing global problems, including: the climate emergency, improving the position of females, religious freedom and, more generally, and human rights. In short, the range of concerns which could be included under the rubric of religion and international relations are numerous. In addition, what is the appropriate position of the topic in international relations theory? To understand and account for the roles of religion in international relations, do we need a new theory or can we incorporate the relevant concerns within existing theoretical frameworks?

Finally, it is no longer clear who the ‘big players’ are in the study of religion and international relations. Many have focused on: the USA, including successive administrations’ support for international religious freedom, the international relations of the Vatican and the pope, various Islamist political entities, Hindu nationalists, Buddhism-linked conflict in Burma/Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and how Judaism connects to Israeli nationalism. What other important players in religion and international relations could be noted? What makes them important? More generally, how today can we hope to understand the myriad potential components in the complex mosaic of religion and international relations? The aim of this special issue is to learn more about the relationships of religion and international relations, theoretically, comparatively, and via individual case studies.

Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Haynes
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Religious
  • international relations
  • post-secularism

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

35 pages, 552 KiB  
Article
International Relations by Proxy? The Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church
by George Soroka
Religions 2022, 13(3), 208; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13030208 - 01 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4174
Abstract
Russian officials and the Moscow Patriarchate have worked together in recent years to promote a socially conservative policy agenda, both domestically and beyond the Russian Federation’s borders. Examining official documents and the statements of key leaders, this article evaluates the development and nature [...] Read more.
Russian officials and the Moscow Patriarchate have worked together in recent years to promote a socially conservative policy agenda, both domestically and beyond the Russian Federation’s borders. Examining official documents and the statements of key leaders, this article evaluates the development and nature of contemporary church–state relations as they pertain to international relations. The picture that emerges is one of pragmatic partnering, with the state increasingly inclining towards normative positions long espoused by the Church in an effort to shift its foreign policy in a direction that stresses civilizational differentiation and positions Russia as the protector of Christians and “traditional values” around the globe. Underlying this shift in orientation on the part of the Kremlin is a neorealist perspective (though one increasingly expressed through ideational rhetoric) that envisions Russia as not just having a privileged regional sphere of influence but becoming a major player in a polycentric world. As a means of legitimating these objectives, the Church has proven an ideal partner; however, it would be a mistake to simply regard the latter institution as an arm of the state, given that it has its own objectives and motivations relative to the wider world, and these at times conflict with those of the Kremlin. Full article
16 pages, 307 KiB  
Article
Religion and International Relations Theory: The Case of “New” Historiography of Human Rights
by Andrew Lloyd Williams
Religions 2022, 13(1), 39; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13010039 - 31 Dec 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1873
Abstract
International relations theory (IRT) often ignores or has difficulty accounting for religion. Thus, the choice of “new” historians of human rights to focus on religious actors in the lead-up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a noteworthy development. One important [...] Read more.
International relations theory (IRT) often ignores or has difficulty accounting for religion. Thus, the choice of “new” historians of human rights to focus on religious actors in the lead-up to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a noteworthy development. One important finding of this stream of scholarship is the crucial role played by Christian personalists in the cultivation of “human rights” discourse in the 1930s and 1940s. However, new school historiography carries assumptions consistent with IRT liberalism that weaken its analysis of religion in the origins of human rights. Most problematic is its dichotomous framework that pits liberal secularism against reactionary religion, which tends to minimize interpretive possibilities. By contrast, IRT constructivism is attuned to the emergence and socialization of norms as different cultures, religious traditions, and value systems interact. Various actors and social networks create, inter-subjectively, pragmatic consensus from positions of fundamental ideological difference. As such, this paper, following a constructivist impulse, uses the case of new school historiography of human rights to better understand the weakness and the promise of IRT in explaining the role of religion in international relations. Full article
20 pages, 418 KiB  
Article
The Role of Faith-Based Organizations in Counter-Radicalization in Nigeria: The Case of Boko Haram
by Bapak Ishaku, Sait Aksit and Kangdim Dingji Maza
Religions 2021, 12(11), 1003; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12111003 - 15 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3936
Abstract
This article examines the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in counter-radicalization in Nigeria, with emphasis on the Boko Haram terrorist group operating in northeast Nigeria and the greater Lake Chad region. A qualitative methodological approach is employed that makes use of primary and [...] Read more.
This article examines the role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in counter-radicalization in Nigeria, with emphasis on the Boko Haram terrorist group operating in northeast Nigeria and the greater Lake Chad region. A qualitative methodological approach is employed that makes use of primary and secondary documents, key informant and stakeholder interviews, and focus group discussions with critical religious actors and organizations. The findings of the article suggest that FBOs play a critical role in the disengagement and deradicalization process of countering the ideological and radical messages of Boko Haram. However, challenges such as the lack of effective stakeholder involvement in the various initiatives by the state in counterterrorism, fear of reprisal and attacks, lack of unison by various FBOs and clerics in countering these negative messages, and the inability of relevant stakeholders in addressing structural factors such as poverty, social and economic exclusion, and unemployment that give rise to radicalization amongst other challenges, have impeded the effectiveness of the FBO sector in its counter-radicalization efforts in Nigeria. To address these challenges, the article proposes a bottom-up approach to counterterrorism that provides room for the multi-sectoral involvement of major stakeholders, especially FBOs, to complement pre-existing initiatives and other measures to counter the negative weaponization of religion by radical and rogue clerics, and also to prevent Boko Haram from expanding its frontiers. Full article
15 pages, 307 KiB  
Article
Post-Secular Identity? Developing a New Approach to Religion in International Relations and IR Studies
by Joanna Kulska and Anna M. Solarz
Religions 2021, 12(11), 982; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110982 - 10 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3106
Abstract
In spite of the increasing presence of religion in international relations with various publications observing this presence and numerous authorities calling for the inclusion of religion into mainstream research, there is no universal consent to recognize religion’s role in IR. In our opinion, [...] Read more.
In spite of the increasing presence of religion in international relations with various publications observing this presence and numerous authorities calling for the inclusion of religion into mainstream research, there is no universal consent to recognize religion’s role in IR. In our opinion, the only way to reconcile IR with the international reality in which religion has been and will remain present in the foreseeable future is for the researchers themselves to construct—especially those oriented towards broad, non-Western perspective—a new face of the discipline, the face which in this article we call the post-secular identity of IR study. Assuming that identity is first and foremost a form of knowledge that tells us how we can define ourselves against the background of the surrounding world, our purpose is to look at the post-secular identity from two different perspectives which are analyzed in the two distinctive parts of the paper. On one hand, post-secular identity would mean the socio-political but also cultural phenomenon of the “knowledge of the self” expressed in the form of ideas, interests and goals of various state and nonstate actors, both religious and secular ones, that are more or less conditioned by religious determinants. We propose looking at them through the prism of a new kind of “partnership” emerging as a result of post-secular thinking in the area of IR. On the other hand, we want to look at post-secular identity as the badly required transformation within the area of IR study that, as we claim, needs to construct more inclusive views of IR scholars adopting a deliberative and pluralistic approach to the reality they examine based on widening their epistemological and hermeneutical horizons. This redefinition would be framed by recognizing religion as rational and adopting the view that the limits of the scientific methods do not coincide with the boundaries of rationality. We also adopt the view that along with the cognitive expansion of the universe, the concept of transcendence has been broadened. Full article
23 pages, 578 KiB  
Article
Positioning Religion in International Relations: The Performative, Discursive, and Relational Dimension of Religious Soft Power
by Zikun Yang and Li Li
Religions 2021, 12(11), 940; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12110940 - 29 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4127
Abstract
Amidst the global religious resurgence in the post-secular world, the field of international relations finds itself unwilling or unable to situate religion back to theoretical paradigms subject to the Westphalian–Enlightenment prejudice. Advocates of religion’s theoretical and empirical significance often turn to religious soft [...] Read more.
Amidst the global religious resurgence in the post-secular world, the field of international relations finds itself unwilling or unable to situate religion back to theoretical paradigms subject to the Westphalian–Enlightenment prejudice. Advocates of religion’s theoretical and empirical significance often turn to religious soft power, a burgeoning theory that gradually becomes the anchorage of discussion but still suffers from conceptual ambiguity and limited explanatory capacity. This essay endeavors to fill in this lacuna by presenting the interdisciplinary attempt to integrate soft power in IR with the three dimensions of power in sociology, which results in a typology of performative, discursive, and relational dimensions of religious soft power. The explanatory and predictive capacity of this model is tested in the empirical case of the evangelical group’s influence on US foreign policy of the post 9/11 Global War on Terror. A process-level historical account based on archival sources furthers scholars’ knowledge of transnational religious actors’ ability to seize both systematic transformations at the international level and contentious dynamics in the domestic environment, which generates a reorientation in norms, identities, and values that contributes to the outcome of foreign policy, thereby answering the un-addressed question of how religion influences domestic and international politics. The bridging of IR, sociology, and historical sociology, three fields often intertwined, suggests a future direction for not only the religious return to IR but also the overcoming of the “intellectual autism” of this discipline, which needs to be better prepared for continuous challenges of soaring populism, nationalism, and clash of civilizations in the twenty-first century. Full article
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36 pages, 1747 KiB  
Article
Conservative Christian Persecution Discourse and Support for Political Violence: Experimental Evidence from the United States
by Luke M. Herrington
Religions 2021, 12(10), 829; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12100829 - 02 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3303
Abstract
International Relations scholarship on religious freedom points to religious persecution as a major driver of political violence around the globe. If correct, the perceived persecution of conservative Christians in the United States (U.S.) may contribute to the radicalization of individuals who self-identify as [...] Read more.
International Relations scholarship on religious freedom points to religious persecution as a major driver of political violence around the globe. If correct, the perceived persecution of conservative Christians in the United States (U.S.) may contribute to the radicalization of individuals who self-identify as conservative and Christian. Yet, in focusing on country-level indicators, previous empirical research on the “religious freedom peace” is generally silent on the role of individual-level perceptions in the formation and mobilization of grievances. This article represents a first attempt to fill this gap. As such, it asks if the religious freedom discourse articulated in conservative American media contributes to the radicalization of its domestic consumers through the cultivation of perceptions of persecution that are divorced from the generally high levels of religious freedom otherwise experienced in the U.S. Although the results of an original online survey experiment demonstrate that persecution discourse does indeed shape perceptions of threat to religious liberty, I find no support for the idea that it also leads to increased support for political violence, either directly or indirectly through misperceptions of persecution. Full article
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12 pages, 262 KiB  
Article
Emerging Hindu Rashtra and Its Impact on Indian Muslims
by M. A. Muqtedar Khan and Rifat Binte Lutful
Religions 2021, 12(9), 693; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12090693 - 27 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 21260
Abstract
This article examines the impact of the gradual Hindutvaization of Indian culture and politics on Indian Muslims. The article contrasts the status of Muslims in the still secular, pluralistic, and democratic constitution of India with the rather marginalized reality of Muslims since the [...] Read more.
This article examines the impact of the gradual Hindutvaization of Indian culture and politics on Indian Muslims. The article contrasts the status of Muslims in the still secular, pluralistic, and democratic constitution of India with the rather marginalized reality of Muslims since the rise of Hindu nationalism. The article argues that successive electoral victories by Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, has precipitated political events, generated policies, and passed new laws that are eroding the democratic nature of India and undermining its religious freedoms. The article documents recent changes that are expediting the emergence of the Hindu state in India and consequently exposes the world’s largest religious minority to an intolerant form of majoritarian governance. Full article
13 pages, 287 KiB  
Article
How Religion Shapes Foreign Policy? An Explanatory Model for Non-Western States
by Mehmet Ozkan
Religions 2021, 12(8), 617; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12080617 - 09 Aug 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 8412
Abstract
Focusing on the role of religion and culture in foreign policy not only addresses the increasing interest in the study of religion as an important element among international relations scholars, but also emphasizes the need for theorizing. While the literature on the role [...] Read more.
Focusing on the role of religion and culture in foreign policy not only addresses the increasing interest in the study of religion as an important element among international relations scholars, but also emphasizes the need for theorizing. While the literature on the role of religion in IR is expanding, it still lacks an overall approach to explain the main role of religion in foreign policy. This study contributes to that literature by focusing on how religion and culture plays a role in both the non-Western and rising countries. Although, the role of religion/culture in politics has a relatively short history in understanding state behavior, particularly in the study of foreign policy of rising states, this article argues that religious and cultural elements produce type of Strategic Mentality through which they influence foreign policy decisions both directly and indirectly much more than we think. Full article
14 pages, 237 KiB  
Article
Religion and International Relations: What Do We Know and How Do We Know It?
by Jeffrey Haynes
Religions 2021, 12(5), 328; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12050328 - 08 May 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 7893
Abstract
The article surveys the recent scholarly study of religion and international relations/International Relations (ir/IR). The focus of the article is on two discrete periods: pre-11 September 2001 (‘9/11’) and post-9/11. During the first time period, Iran’s Islamic revolution (1979), the civil war in [...] Read more.
The article surveys the recent scholarly study of religion and international relations/International Relations (ir/IR). The focus of the article is on two discrete periods: pre-11 September 2001 (‘9/11’) and post-9/11. During the first time period, Iran’s Islamic revolution (1979), the civil war in former Yugoslavia and Huntington’s ‘clash of civilisations’ (1993) were major foci of attention. The second period saw a large number of scholarly accounts following the 9/11 attacks on the USA, with a sustained focus on the international securitisation of Islam. The article concludes that following the recent diminution of the threat to the West of Islamist terrorism—subsequent to the apparent demise of Islamic State and the fragmentation and dissipation of al Qaeda—the study of religion in IR theory needs to take better account of changing circumstances to arrive at an improved understanding of how religion impacts on international relations/International Relations. Full article
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