Book Review: John L. Esposito and Michael Watson (eds.), Religion and Global Order (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2000, 239 pp. £25.00 hbk., £14.99 pbk.)
| DOI | 10.1177/03058298000290030804 |
| Author | Fred Halliday |
| Published date | 01 December 2000 |
| Date | 01 December 2000 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Millennium
902
John L . Esposito a nd Michael Watson (eds.), Religion and Global Order
(Cardiff: Unive rsity of Wales Press, 2 000, 239 pp. £25.00 hbk., £14. 99 pbk.).
The editors of this collected volume begin by observing, quite rightly, that religion
has rec ently come to be more recog nised as a factor i n internation al relations, be
this i n regard to the impact of fundamenta list movements of different kin ds, or in
regard to the role of religi ous issues in the d iplomacy of the Vat ican, the USA and
Islamic s tates. The c ontributors add in different ways to this emphasis: thus Scott
Thomas devel ops a critique of the secular enli ghtenment and the need to count eract
it by an ap proach rooted in religio n, James Piscatori examin es the role of religious,
particularl y Islamic, tra nsnationalism, and Mic hael Walshs the rol e of the Vatica n,
while Paul B adham, Simon Murden, and Jeff Haynes focus on the pl ace of religion
in the post-Col d War world. A final section explo res in more detai l the p ossible
contributi on of three religions; Buddh ism (Sulak Sivara ska), Judaism (Dan Cohn-
Sherbok) and Christian theology in regard to the environment (John Haught) and in
regard to contemporary international ethical questions.
So far, so good. Religious i deas, a nd move ments, a nd the formation of state
policy i n terms of reli gion, have been noticeable features of internation al relations
in recent years. The campaigns of Ayato llah Khomeini for power in the Islamic
world, and of Pope John Pau l II against Soviet control of Eastern Euro pe are cases
in po int. Within co untries we can see the impact of E vangelical Christia ns on US
foreign policy, of religious conserv atives in Israel and ma ny Islamic countries on
foreign po licy. Some of the alli ances produced are at first sight unexpected , that of
the Vatican and Iran in regard to world population policy, and that of the Pope with
Fidel Castro in their overlap ping, if not con vergent, critiq ue of neo-libe ral
capitalism.
This volume doe s, however, raise ot her issues, by omission and commis sion, that
are not so straightfor ward. First of all, in the light of the title of t his book, any
measured study o f the impact o f religion on i nternational po litics would have to
take acc ount of those countries, and re gions, where reli gion, far from contributing
to interna tional order, contribute s to disorder, by p roviding, through sectaria n
identity, ideology a nd the active incitement by clergymen, the b asis for conflict,
intolerance and killing. The recent history of the Balkan s, of Northern Irela nd and
of nu merous inter-commu nal conflicts, pro vides evidence e nough of th is: religion
has much bloo d on its hands in this regard.
Second, a ny discussion o f the normat ive issues inv olved would ha ve to address
the quest ion of the conflict, evi dent in regard to ever y religion, between the
growing recogni tion o f u niversal standards of human rights and the cla ims o f
religion. Be thi s in regard to t he equality of men and women, t he rights of believers
and non-belie vers, and, n ot least, the right of peop le born into a religious
community to leave it, rel igions are in overt conflict with contemporar y
internatio nal norms: no God , or gods, are in co mpliance with the Universal
Declaration of Huma n Rights.
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