Religion and International Politics

The current resurgence of religion confronts
Westphalian International Relations with a
fundamental challenge. The rise of a variety of
religious fundamentalisms on a worldwide scale
brings back to centre stage the question of the
righful role religion should play in world politics.

In 'Religion and International Politics', Ludwig
Gelot demonstrates that the transnational and
religious dimensions of the phenomena call for the
develpoment of a new analytical framework and
interpretive categories. As a matter of fact, the
secularist, materialist, and positivist assumptions
at the heart of modern international relations are
inadequate for the proper understanding of
fundamentalism. Likewise, Samuel Huntington s thesis
of the Clash of Civilizations is found to be
wanting.

The author concludes that the most challenging
dimension of the return of religion is its
questioning of the West's reliance on reason as the
sole source of knowledge and authority.

Autorentext

Ludwig Gelot holds a BA Hons. in Politics and Peace Studies from the University of Bradford and an MScEcon in International Politics from Aberystwyth University. He is currently completing his PhD at Aberystwyth University on the topic of 'The Resurgence of Religion in the 21st Century, Towards Post-Secular International Relations.'

Klappentext

The current resurgence of religion confronts Westphalian International Relations with a fundamental challenge. The rise of a variety of religious fundamentalisms on a worldwide scale brings back to centre stage the question of the righful role religion should play in world politics.In 'Religion and International Politics', Ludwig Gelot demonstrates that the transnational and religious dimensions of the phenomena call for the develpoment of a new analytical framework and interpretive categories. As a matter of fact, the secularist, materialist, and positivist assumptions at the heart of modern international relations are inadequate for the proper understanding of fundamentalism. Likewise, Samuel Huntington's thesis of the Clash of Civilizations is found to be wanting. The author concludes that the most challenging dimension of the return of religion is its questioning of the West's reliance on reason as the sole source of knowledge and authority.