Bringing Religion Into International Relations

This book has several main themes and arguments. International Relations has been westerncentric, which has contributed to its ignoring religion; while religion is not the main driving force behind IR, international politics cannot be understood without taking religion into account; the role of religion is related to the fact that IR has evolved to become more than just interstate relations and now included elements of domestic politics. The book proceeds in three stages. First, it looks at why religion was ignored by IR theory and theorists. Second, it examines the multiple ways religion influences IR, including through religious legitimacy and the many ways domestic religious issues can cross borders. In this discussion a number of topics including but not limited to international intervention, international organizations, religious fundamentalism, political Islam, Samuel Huntington's 'clash of civilizations' theory, and terrorism are addressed. Third, these factors are examined empirically using both quantitative and case study methodology.

'This book, by two highly regarded experts on international conflict, takes an excellent step forward along a neglected path, namely, the one leading to the study of the impact of religion. This ambitious book succeeds in covering an agenda that ranges from theoretical issues about legitimacy to the role religion plays in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. In sum, this superb book contains much that will interest students of international relations, religion and area experts on the Middle East.' - Patrick James, Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri, USA, and Editor, International Studies Quarterly

'This broad-ranging and well documented analysis of the global impact of religion represents a felicitous combination of approaches. It deals at once with questions of ideology and legitimacy and the debate about conflicts of nationalism and ethnicity. It is a significant contribution to the study of international relations.' - William Safran, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA

'If 9/11 proved anything, it was the enormously influential role that religious extremism plays in contemporary affairs. Jonathan Fox and Shmuel Sandler understand the essential need for International Relations experts, at long last, to integrate a sophisticated understanding of religion into their analyses of world politics. Accordingly, they have provided an engaging and well-researched guidebook for the task. Bringing Religion into International Politics will quickly become the standard introduction and overview for anyone seeking to comprehend the complex dynamics of religion and power in the Twenty-first century.' - R. Scott Appleby, Author of The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation and Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, USA

'...a contribution that will enjoy wide acceptance as one of the first texts to urge for the inclusion of religious discourse through paradigm modification in international relations. Fox and Sandler have done a great service to the social sciences with the publication of this book.' - John K. Burk, International Journal of Public Theology

JONATHAN FOX received his PhD in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland in 1997 and is currently a Lecturer in the Political Studies Department of Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. His research interests include the role of religion in conflict, international relations and politics, as well as issues of separation of religion and state. He has published numerous articles on these topics in journals as well as his recent book Ethnoreligious Conflict in the Late Twentieth Century.

SHMUEL SANDLER is Professor of Political Science and International Politics, and he holds the Sara and Simha Lainer Chair in Democracy and Civility at Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel. He authored and edited over ten books and over fifty articles that appeared in professional journals and edited books. His recent research concentrates on ethnic politics and international relations.