Islam as Statecraft: How Governments Use Religion in Foreign Policy
Creator
Unknown authorAbstract
In this report published by the Brookings Institution, Peter Mandaville and Shadi Hamid explore the religious dimensions of the Saudi-Iranian rivalry, looking at how the Islamic outreach strategies of the two governments have evolved in response to changing regional and global environments. The authors assess the much-discussed phenomenon of Saudi Arabia’s export of Wahhabism, arguing that the nature and effects of Saudi religious influence around the world are more complicated than we ordinarily think. Meanwhile, the governments of prominent Muslim-majority countries (including Jordan, Morocco, and Egypt) have positioned themselves as the purveyors of a “moderate Islam” capable of blunting the narrative of extremist groups. They also look at Turkey and Indonesia as examples of emerging powers that have integrated elements of religious outreach into their broader soft power strategies across Asia and Africa. Mandaville and Hamid ultimately argue that while states are not always able to control the religious narrative or its effects, it is nonetheless important—and growing more important—to pay attention to the increased salience of culture, religion, and ideas in the context of an emerging “post-liberal” world order.
Permanent Link
http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1052642Date Published
2018-11-14Rights
Copyright Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. Permission is granted for educational uses only. For other uses, please contact the center at berkleycenter@georgetown.edu for information about permissions.
Subject
Collections
Metadata
Show full item recordRelated items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Civilization and Statecraft: The Foreign Policy of China and India during the Cold War
Anderson, Deborah (Georgetown University, 2014)This thesis intends to show how the "genes" of culture express themselves in the behavior of a nation. It assesses the manner in which civilizational values inform the application of statecraft in foreign relations. The ...