BRINGING RELIGION INTO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

- J. FOX AND S. SANDLER

Jonathan Fox (Ph.D. University of Maryland, 1997) is a Professor in the Department of

Political Science at Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. He specializes in the influence of
religion on politics which he examines using both quantitative and qualitative methodology. His
research also investigates the impact of religion on domestic conflict, terrorism, international
intervention, and international relations. His recent books on these topics include Religion in
International Relations Theory: Interactions & Possibilities (Routledge, 2013, with Nukhet
Sandal) and An Introduction to Religion and Politics: Theory & Practice (Routledge, 2013). Fox
was part of the Templeton Foundation-funded Religion and State project from 2008 to 2011,
which collected and analyzed data on government involvement in religion. Prof. Fox is the
author or editor of nine books and over seventy five research articles and book chapters.
Shmuel Sandler (Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University) is a Professor of Political Science at
Bar-Ilan University in Israel and Senior Research Associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for
Strategic Studies. He specializes in Comparative Politics and International Politics, The Arab-
Israel Conflict, Politics and Foreign Policy of Israel and Ethno-National Politics and Foreign
Policy. Some of his books include The State of Israel, The Land of Israel: Statist and Ethno-
national Dimensions of Foreign Policy. (1993), The Nation-State: Introduction to International
Relations (1999) and The Arab-Israel Conflict Transformed: Fifty Years of Interstate and
Ethnic Crises. (with Hemda Ben-Yehuda, 2002).
Bringing religion into International Relations aims to explain how religion, an aspect of
social life quite ignored in the political agenda of the big national actors, is revived more and
more in the international arena. Many scholars believed religion to be a factor independent of the
state and its internal and foreign affairs, but many events of the history contradicted this belief.
Some of the most eloquent examples, which shook the world to its core are the attacks on the
Twin Towers in New York City and the ensuing ones in Washington and Pennsylvania by
Osama Bin Ladens religiously motivated Al-Qaeda organization, the tensions between India and
Pakistan, the ongoing sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland or the successful religious
revolutions in Iran and Afghanistan. Even if it is a concept rather hard to define in a specific
way, religion has a major influence on peoples opinion and points of view and in this regard, it
can greatly affect the political life conducted through democracy and the rule of the citizens.
The introductory chapter exposes the fact that religion was not seen as a part of the
development of the world and it was even ignored as an aspect that could explain the functioning
of political life, and hence of the international relations. Its role was mainly taken by the material
power, economics, the state, and the nation, which represent nowadays the nucleus of the most
theories regarding the international political arena. Even so, the concepts of religion and
religious legitimacy are a key factor in promoting both stability and conflict in different regions
(e.g. Latin America), as well as in forming the doctrine of Just War, which is an aspect still not
taken into consideration by many scholars and theories.
In the last years, religious fundamentalism became a factor of great importance in both
international and national affairs, as seen in religiously motivated terrorism or struggles over the
issues of religious human rights. Womens rights or family planning include also tones of
religious matter, and they are, indeed, concerns mostly debated in international forums.
 The second chapter aims to answer some of the central questions this book is base on:
Why was or is the discipline of international relations not prepared to accept religion as a
substantial part of its theories? Why a field of study that continuously developed for almost a
century and was under the rigorous attention of some of the biggest intellectuals has not yet
included religion as a recognized focusing mark? The most important argument that can be
brought in this sense is the development of this discipline under the direct influence of the
Western social sciences and its values, which rejected religion as a illustrative component of the
world functioning. Most Western scholars believed that religion has no place in the
modernization of the state, arguing that even the non-Western states, where religions influence
was more visible in the foreign policy, would soon renounce at its religion politics relation.
Despite the intended course, religion tends now to have a stronger voice in the international
matters, visible both in the West and outside the West. Even if there is a tendency of man to turn
his back on God due to the development of the nation state and its constant attempt to replace his
identity needs, surprisingly, the religious values which nowadays strengthen the feeling of
belonging, common origins and eternity between people survived and even more, are attracting
again souls thinking that the modern state isnt enough to fulfill ones life. Breaking from the
traditional values and the original ones might lead to a sort of alienation and detachment, this is
why it is important to include religion into the international relations people feeling complete,
not as something was stripped away from them, make healthy relationships
Chapter 3 analyzes the bond created between religious and political values during the
years. It is important to distinguish the fact that politics imposed, over time, even physical force
and, by contrast with it, religious concepts sometimes contributed to the survival of a regime and
reduction in the use of force as a tool of persuasion. But religion can also be perceived as a cause
of war and violence, if we take into consideration the numerous conflicts and major battles
carried in the name of a belief. It affects the international system in both senses. It can stop wars
and it can create new ones. It is a sensitive tool which can be used both to unsteel the hearts of
the people and manipulate them. Nowadays, if ethnicity and nationalism can be seen as forms of
legitimizing the use of physical force, religion can be too seen as a form legitimator of violence.
Chapter 4 brings into discussion if domestic affairs influenced majorly by religion can
influence, in the same time, the international arena. It is not a secret anymore that many religious
conflicts, if not all of them, met with a process of internationalization, because they often end to
attract intervention from external actors belonging to the same religion. This chapter analyzes in
particular how a religious conflict can become internationalized or cross-borders and how a
belief can influence how the world is functioning at a given moment, taking into consideration
the fact that religion still has to make a name for itself regarding its place in international
relations theories.
In this matter, chapter 5 provides arguments on how important religion has become in the
last decades, both in influencing the domestic affairs or the foreign ones. Religious
fundamentalism is taking the world by storm, humans and womens rights are more and more
disputable under the light of religion and all kind of peoples return to their ancestral beliefs, in an
attempt to find their true identity and their true essence. This chapter analyzes an in-depth
research over terrorism, religious fundamentalism or political Islam.
Chapters 6 and 7 try to present some empirical information regarding the matter of
religion and its place in international relations, and so, clash of civilizations theory of S.
Huntington and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict are brought under observation. Chapter 6
emphasizes, through a comparative cross-sectional analysis, that, even if Huntington didnt use
religion as a strong word to describe the clash of civilization, his theory is clearly religion-
based, taking into consideration the fact that religion can be the core or one of the most
influential symbols of a nation which identifies with some sort of belief. So, if we are going to
embrace the theory saying that the next big conflicts would be of cultural nature, we have to
admit that religion would be a priority in addressing international affairs. Maybe Westerners, in
their so-called supremacy, avoided religion as a concept worth observing in the international
arena, as they believe spiritual needs arent something too important to complete the spiritual
profile of a people. But this very spiritual profile will be the one creating new and new conflicts
or disputes. Cultural differences can no longer be ignored, as they shape the true nature of a
nation. They are, therefore, the core values humans embrace when they try to identify as
something or belong to something. To support this matter, some empirical evidence is brought
regarding the influence of religion, civilizations or separatism on ethnic conflicts of the 1990s.
In chapter 7, the Palestinian Israeli conflict is argumented over, an international dispute
deep-rooted in religious beliefs, taking into consideration the role of religion and the themes
discussed previously. Taking the form of a case study methodology, the analysis concentrates on
the Al-Aqsa Intifada, beginning with the intercommunal conflict during Mandatory Palestine.
The role of religion is emphasized in arguing the Muslims and Jews behaviour during the
conflict as a form of promoting violence. On the other side, besides the religious motifs of both
parties, it is not to be forgotten the secular motivation fueling their actions, as religious impulses
can be sustained by political or national interests.
The final chapter, 8, puts religion into new forms of interpretation in the context of
international relations theories firstly, its power to shape the human ideas and points of view,
resulting in specific actions conducted by people regarding their political future and life, then the
identity nature religion comprises in its values, constituting one of the core aspects of the culture
of a nation, then how religion can be interpreted as a source of legitimacy, for peace and war in
the same time and finally, how religion can be associated with diverse formal institutions which
might influence the political life of a state. Regarding the relationship religion can establish with
some formal institutions which have power to direct the political functioning of a nation,
sometimes these institutions can be themselves international actors, if thinking of the Catholic
Church, but in other cases they might be a part of political beliefs supporting or opposing a
regime. Also, this chapter analyzes the linkage between different sets of politics of the
Palestinian Israeli conflict, in order for the true meanings of the dispute to be understood.
In my opinion regarding the content of the book and how it is exposed, the information is
well delivered and clear, being organized in distinct chapters which make the understanding of
the problem and its aspects easier and faster. The two authors raise an important question in the
context of international relations and their development, which seem to lack or ignore the
religious background many political actions hide. Even if religion is not the most important
concept in understanding international relations, it remains one key aspect of apprehending how
the international political arena functions. Religions influence can be observed in the context of
international relations analyzed through the means of social sciences but further progress and
research is needed for this field of study to be complete and understood properly. The book aims
to start this complex process of bringing religion into the study of international relations and to
consolidate its place afterwards. The final result actually provide a better understanding of how
international arena functions, an updated role of the religion into the modern years and how
religious values influence majorly the path the world is facing.