In the name of God ? religion and international relations

Abstract

The objectives of this paper are to explain the little initial attention given by International Relation’ authors to religion, examine the impact of the increased attention to religion in this area by its specialists from the 1970s on and identify the ways in which religion influences international politics nowadays. The little initial attention given by IR authors to religion is related to the predominance of "secularization thesis" in the Social Sciences, which holds that there is a growing distinction between the religious and secular spheres, religious belief became more appropriately consigned to the private sphere and the privatization of religion has become an indispensable condition for the development of the modern political systems. The increased attention to religion impacts the area of International Relations because analysts need to explore how religion defines the direction, nature and outcome of wars and other events and thus develop more complex theoretical frameworks that overcome the limitations of the mainstream IR theories. Religion can influence international politics in the development of standards and principles in terms of their basic parameters, players and codes of conduct that guide conflict and war among political units in the international system and expand the normative view of the main actors in international politics for a more robust recognition of human rights. However, religion can also influence the identities and motivations of people in a conflict, the scope and intensity of the political objectives of a religious group and the transnational nature of groups and communities. In their most inclusive perspectives, religions can create loyalties that allow more justice and peace to all mankind and provide bases for transnational efforts aimed at improving governance at all levels of social interaction.