Religion and international relations

TEHRAN, Oct. 2 (MNA) – Religions have often been and continue to be a positive force in human history. Hinduism promotes tolerance and a peaceful world, while Buddhism preaches pacifism. Transnational religious traditions, like those of Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and Confucianism have outlasted modernization over the years and have become part and parcel of regional and global identities.
The conventional thesis advanced by some Western scholars that modernization automatically leads to secularization has proven fundamentally misguided. This realization has become increasingly evident in part because secular rationalization has failed to undermine the influence of religion on the global stage. If anything, religion has come to address the issue of insecurity and a sense of rudderless to which many human beings have felt vulnerable as a result of living in a modernizing world.

At its core, religion is intended to answer questions pertaining to existence and purpose. Ironically, these questions become more prolific in a globalized world. So long as religion can do this, its existence is inevitable because of its fluidity. Globalization experts have also acknowledged the significance of religion in providing a collective sense of belonging to larger communities of diaspora across the globe. Pentecostal missions throughout the world have enjoyed enormous success in countries as diverse as China, India, the Philippines, Egypt, Liberia, Angola, Brazil, and Mexico.

Some scholars have noted that Pentecostalism grew deep roots and flourished after the end of colonialism. Others have noted that these missions seem to be an extension of colonialism or remnants thereof, depending upon the time and purpose under which they were undertaken. At the same time, globalization has helped spread shared norms and values throughout the world, while giving local and regional cultures an opportunity to express themselves. This new interconnectedness of a geographically dispersed community has given rise to Islamic revivalism in the Muslim world and has reawakened the notion of discovering one’s self and the consciousness of the Muslim self.

Whereas in some parts of the world religion has been a force for unity and harmony, as well as a source of reconciliation between hostile states, in others it has been a source of division, and yet religion as the key underlining cause for violence has been a rarity.

Adopting religious values and ideology for the (wrong) reason of staying in power, as well as delivering a mortal blow against the enemy by using religious ideology, represents a perverse use of religion to accomplish one’s own political goals. The role of religious beliefs in terrorist attacks points to a negative side of this influence. By contrast, using religious beliefs and practices as a force to promote regional identity and harmony is certain to be practically and humanely justified.

Turkey’s Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan has taken a position on religion that seems to bear that out: “The Turkish state in its core is a state of freedoms and secularism.” This view in the midst of the “Arab Spring” is immensely reassuring, even as the Western world’s fear of unintended consequences flowing from these uprisings in terms of region may not be entirely baseless. Regardless, Erdogan’s message illustrates the positive role that religion can and should play in absorbing the dynamics of change in international relations.

There are no simple ways to predict religion’s probable effect on international relations, and it is hard to generalize about such a role beyond certain publicly accepted facts. Throughout history, religious groups have found a way to influence world politics. Faith-based non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have been not only omnipresent—in both local and transnational spaces—but also effective in providing relief operations, aiding peace-building efforts, protecting refugees, seeking the release of hostages or civilians at risk, searching for forced disappearances, and serving as an intermediary in conflict resolutions among states. Likewise, the Vatican (Holy See) certainly wields a degree of political influence as well, beyond that of NGOs, but surely not quite to the degree that states do. But nevertheless it is recognized as a sovereign entity, headed by the Pope, with which diplomatic relations can be maintained.

To the extent that religion continues to be a marker of identity, its influence on the world stage and global politics cannot be overlooked or underestimated. But when religion becomes an apparatus of political power/ideology, it becomes a problem of some controversy. For one thing, it is likely to undermine religion itself by exposing it to complicated political realities and machinations, while eroding the purity of its principles and ethics. For another, religious and sectarian tensions—especially when and if subject to political manipulations—are no less deadly and fatal than ethnic and racial conflicts.

In short, religion is embedded at nearly every level of international relations; though how it is expressed greatly differs.