Religion as a driver of conflict
Religion is often seen as a key cause of conflict, both in individual
societies and on the international scene. While the proponents of this
viewpoint are numerous, one scholarly figure ought to be remembered
as the central point of reference for this argument. Samuel Huntington
(1993; 1997), borrowing partly on an idea put forward by British-American
historian, Bernard Lewis (1990), became the most prominent voice
claiming that religious and cultural identities would be the main driver
of international conflict in the new world order following the end of the
Cold War. He argued that although the nation state would remain the
most powerful actor in the international arena, the ‘clash of civilizations’
would become the new force fueling conflict. His categorization of the
world into nine different civilizations is based mostly along religious
lines. He contends that conflicts can occur both on a local level within
a state with groups belonging to different civilizations, or among neighboring
states (‘fault-line conflicts’); and also on a global level between
and among states that belong to different civilizations (‘core-state conflicts’).
He argues that civilizations compete on the international scene,
and that this competition can turn into violent conflict, most importantly
because of the different religions that have formed these civilizations.
Conflict lines on the international scene, he maintains, are primarily
those between the Muslim and the non-Muslim world, which have
shaped the history of conflict for centuries (Huntington 1993, 1997).
Religion as a Mediating Factor
Besides examining religion as a driver of violent conflict, scholars have
also been concerned with the extent to which religion may indirectly
foster or tolerate violence. The nexus between faith and conflict is
thus addressed by referring to religion as a cause of structural violence
through discrimination and exclusions. This line of reasoning is supported
by the fact that religious identities can erect potent boundaries
and provoke fierce confrontation within a group when there is excessive
emphasis on claims by some that they belong and adhere to or
are protecting a set of absolute truths. Anthropologists often examine
how, within and across societies, religion is used to create differences
among people. Political scientists argue that religion, through its
inherent distinction between an in-group and an out-group, can lead to
structural violence both within societies and on the international scene.
Urging that we take into consideration the existence of various levels
of violence, Galtung (1969) argues that religion is often the source of
‘cultural violence’, a form of violence that is used to legitimise other
forms of violence. Without seeking to establish a direct cause and effect
between religion and violence, Galtung shows how different factors
such as religion, ideology, language and ethnicity become intertwined
to shape ways of thinking and behaviours that can lead to situations of
exclusion, discrimination and eventually also physical violence.
Another way of establishing an indirect relationship between religion
and violence is by focusing on the inaction of religious groups. Boulding
(1986), for example, argues that religions have not succeeded in using
their potential for peacebuilding, and thus they have lent support to
states when they are at war. While religion has not ignited a conflict,
it has worked as ‘an obstacle to peace’.
The majority of experts on religion and politics, nationalism, and conflict
and peace, however, concur that conflicts are usually characterised
by a set of motivations and their interactions, and thus an analysis of
conflict factors cannot be limited to only one of these dimensions, be
it religious, political, historical, or economic (see, for example, Berdal
2003, 492; Laitin 2007; Mayall 1990; Toft 2007).
The Iraqi-born British historian Elie Kedourie (1960) became famous
for his controversial view of nationalism as a Western invention. He
regarded nationalism as the greatest evil of the twentieth century, the
export of which was particularly catastrophic in the Middle East. While
likening nationalism to religion because of its despotic and divisive qualities,
Kedourie did not, however, attribute the emergence of nationalism
to religion; indeed he regarded the two as being essentially opposed.
Scholars with expertise on the Indian subcontinent (among them: Talbot
2007; Bhatt 2001; Mayall and Srinivasan 2009; Waseem 2010) argue for
more nuanced readings of the apparent inter- and intra-state religious
conflicts affecting India and Pakistan. This means examining central
elements in the emergence of violent attacks on religious minorities
and on sacred sites. Among those are the historical legacy (from both
during and before the colonial era), attempts to elaborate modern
(secular) nationalist projects, weak state institutions, and blatant
competition for political power among and within ethnic groups and
competing religious and political leaders. It is against the background
of these factors and in the changing context as societies feel the
pressures of modernity, globalisation and multicultural society, that
violence becomes morally and religiously sanctioned, argues Indian
psychoanalyst Sundhir Kakar (1996).
Taking into account economic factors, a global study coordinated by
Oxford professor Frances Stewart (2008) reaches similar conclusions.
It centres on the hypothesis that violent conflict in multicultural
societies occurs in the presence of major horizontal inequalities among
culturally defined groups. The argument is that when cultural differences
coincide with economic and political differences between groups, this
can cause deep resentment that may in turn lead to violent struggles.
This builds on the work of Gurr (1993) and Collier et al. (2003), whose
theories stress the centrality of mobilisation based on group identity and
poverty and deprivation in conflict. It also confirms the finding by Fearon
and Laitin (1996) that multicultural societies do not generate conflict just
because they are multicultural. It is rather the combination of multiple
factors that ignites conflicts.
Wolff (2006) proposes comprehensive elaboration on these factors.
He usefully distinguishes between ‘underlying’ (structural, political,
economic, social, cultural, perceptual) and ‘proximate’ causes of conflict
(i.e. the role of leaders and their strategic choices, both domestically
and in neighbouring countries). Underlying causes are ‘necessary, but
not sufficient conditions for the outbreak of inter-ethnic violence’ (Wolff
2006, 68). The ‘proximate’ causes, by contrast, enable or accelerate
conflicts in situations ‘in which all or some of the underlying “ingredients”
are present’ (Wolff 2006, 70–71). Accepting the existence of this
multiplicity of factors leading to multiple configurations thus explains
‘why, despite similar basic conditions, not every situation of ethnic tensions
leads to full-scale civil war’ (Wolff 2006, 71). Ethnic conflicts, Wolff
argues, are not necessarily always about ethnicity; rather, this is often
‘a convenient common denominator to organize a conflict group in the
struggle over resources, land, or power […] a convenient mechanism to
organize and mobilize people into homogeneous conflict groups willing
to fight each other for resources that are at best indirectly linked to
their ethnic identity’ (Wolff 2006, 64–65). Ethnicity and religion are not
synonyms but they frequently overlap. Thus it seems safe to conclude
that religion – as any other factor – can be part of the picture but cannot,
alone, be a cause of conflict.
Fox (2003) has demonstrated that self-determination and nationalism
are the primary causes of ethnic conflicts, while religious factors
can influence the dynamics of the conflict and increase its intensity.
Furthermore, religion causes violence only when it is combined with
these other factors (Fox 2004b). Fox (2001) specifically examines
the role of religion in conflicts in the Middle East and their resulting
characteristics, based on the Minorities at Risk dataset and religious
factors, and he finds that religion plays a disproportionately important
role in ethno-religious conflicts in the region, more so than in non-
Middle Eastern states with Muslim majorities. States in the Middle
East are also disproportionately more autocratic than in other regions.
However, despite the unique importance of religion, Fox argues that
the prevalence of religious conflict is not explained by either the Islamic
or autocratic character of the states, and in reality the ethno-religious
conflicts in the Middle East are not significantly different from similar
ethnic struggles around the world. This, he concludes, contradicts
Huntington’s (1993) notion of Islam’s ‘bloody borders’, as the conflicts
in the Middle East are not more violent than other ethnic conflicts. He
warns, however, that actions based on Huntington’s notion could lead to
a self-fulfilling prophecy. In a further study also based on the Minorities
at Risk dataset, Fox (2004) does argue that religious conflict is more
contagious than non-religious conflict; however, only violent conflicts
cross borders while non-violent ones do not.
The nature of grievances and demands in a conflict is central to the
analyses of Svensson (2007) and Fox (2003). Fox argues that ‘when
religious issues are important, they will change the dynamics of
the conflict’, (2003, 125). This can be attributed both to the role of
religious institutions within the state and to the way in which religion
influences international intervention in ethnic conflict. Internally,
religious institutions tend to facilitate a reaction if the grievances have
religious importance; however, if they have no religious importance the
religious institutions often inhibit protest. With regards to international
intervention, Fox maintains that other states are more likely to intervene
if they have religious minorities in common and if the conflict is ethnoreligious.
Using data from international interventions, he shows that
Islamic states are most likely to intervene and that Islamic minorities
are most likely to benefit from that intervention.
Svensson (2007) argues that across religions, where the grievances or
demands are based on explicit religious claims, the negotiated settlement
of conflict is less likely to succeed than if there are no religious
claims. He demonstrates that the chances for negotiated settlement
are not affected if the conflicting parties are from different religious
traditions. Svensson’s argument is based on data from intra-state
armed conflicts between 1989 and 2003, using the Uppsala Conflict
Data Programme. He concludes that efforts should be made to prevent
conflicting parties from developing their demands in religious terms,
given that negotiated settlements are more likely if religious claims are
not involved.
Galtung’s (2014) theory of the peace potential of religions essentially
focuses on the factors that can make religions prone to promoting
violence and then extrapolates from these to identify and develop the
factors that lend to the potential of religions to maintain or build peace,
arguing that the latter can and should be promoted. Although he notes
that different religions have different degrees of potential to promote
peace, he clearly acknowledges that there is no automatic connection
between the belief system of a specific religion and the use of force
by its followers. He also rejects the notion of ‘religious conflicts’, as
conflicts are multi-dimensional and complex and cannot usually be
reduced to only one causal factor (Galtung 2014, 32). To understand the
peace potential of religions, he looks to what extent religions are prone
to promote or reject direct violence and structural violence.
With regard to direct violence, Galtung (2014) argues that the idea of
‘being a Chosen People’ and the value of ‘aggressive missionarism’
built into the core belief system of a religion can lead to direct violence
perpetrated by its followers. ‘Holy War’ and ‘Just War’ become terms
used to justify the use of violence against other people.
He notes that all religions advocate a special relationship with their
god(s) and fellow believers, thus creating in-groups and out-groups.
However, different religions also have different potential to promote
other forms of structural violence, such as economic exploitation and
political repression. Galtung cites the example of slavery, which was
legitimised in religious terms by some Christians.
Based on this theory, Galtung develops a generalised model of major
religions in the world and classifies them according to their inherent
potential to reject both direct and structural violence. Most importantly,
he argues that, in general, Hinduism rejects both forms of violence and
thus has a large potential for peace. However, Hinduism is less than
explicit about rejecting direct (physical) violence, and it also tolerates
and promotes structural (cultural) violence through its caste system.
Islam rejects a societal caste system (structural violence), but is prone
to promote direct violence through its doctrine obliging all its followers
to defend the faith. Other religions, in particular Christianity, are predisposed
to promote both structural and direct violence. Galtung clearly
accepts that this theory is a general one, and that there are many possibilities
to cite counter-examples. However, he uses his theory mainly
to justify the need for more dialogue, both intra-religious and inter-faith,
which can promote the peace potential of religions (Galtung 1997).
In the light of the research evidence presented so far, it is clear why
many – if not all – scholars of religion and politics subscribe to the
expression ‘ambivalence of the sacred’; religion itself is also neither
good nor bad, but its power can be used to accelerate violence (bad) or
promote peace (good) across societies (Appleby 2000; Haynes 2011;
Philpott 2007a). Trying to distinguish between ‘religious’ and ‘secular’
violence is not only useless but also dangerous (Cavanaugh 2009)
since, ‘privileging religious explanations also serves to depoliticise
and securitise in the political realm’ (Jackson and Gunning 2011, 382).
The consensus seems to be that while religion should not be taken
for granted as the main driving force of violence and conflict, it cannot
be excluded from accounts of international relations, impacting both
interstate relations and domestic politics (see among others Fox 2004a;
Thomas 2005).
Islam and Conflict
Since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Islam has been centre
stage when it comes to research on the links between religion and
conflict. Popular commentaries facilely point to the ideological sources
of conflict, maintaining that the Qur’an is inherently violent and that all
forms of Islamism are nothing but an antecedent of violence, terrorism
and totalitarianism. Indeed, a dataset of suicide attacks from 1981 to
March 2008 shows not only an escalation of these from 2000 onwards,
but also that ‘most contemporary suicide attacks can be attributed to
jihadist groups’ (Moghadam 2009), while until recently the evidence
(from a study taking into account data up to 2003) was that secular and
religious groups had been responsible for a roughly equal number of suicide
actions (Pape 2003). Several scholars, including Moghadam (2009)
and Khosrokhavar (2005) have shown how key the religious ideology of
martyrdom is to explaining this sudden rise of Islam-motivated suicide
missions. Yet other experts on Islam and terrorism play down – without
ignoring – the ideological component. In their view, the escalation of
violence carried out in the name of Islam must be attributed to a combination
of factors where contextual variables, individual psychologies and
opportunity structures in a society are central (Hafez 2003; Jackson and
Gunning 2011; Mandaville 2007; Wiktorowicz 2005a). Looking at entire
processes rather than examining individual factors, ideas or actors
appears to be more productive in capturing the shifting role of religion,
and of Islam more specifically, in the current challenges of conflict and
terrorism that the international community faces.
Certainly, Islamic State and other jihadist groups legitimise themselves
through a repertoire of ‘ideas that have broad resonance among
Muslim-majority populations’ (Hamid 2014). But the fact that radical
jihadi groups resort to Islamic sources to justify their violent acts cannot,
on its own, prove that Islam is inherently violent. Rather, as Wiktorowicz
(2005b, 94) argues, it demonstrates their tactical ability to frame
violence in Islamic terms, which is possible thanks to a gradual ‘erosion
of critical constraints used to limit warfare and violence in classical
Islam’. Many, therefore, have urged moderate Muslims to pre-empt this
manipulation of Islamic knowledge. Yet, Moghadam (2009, 78) warns,
we have to recognise that the factors involved in this type of terrorism
are multiple and diverse and that ‘the battle against suicide attacks will
not be won by exposing the inconsistencies of Salafi jihad alone’.
Following Gellner (see section 2.1.) we could argue that the central
problem is not the religious truth itself, but the exclusivist mindset of
those appropriating and disseminating it. Similarly, for Berman (2007),
the origin of conflict lies not in religion, but rather in extremist thinking,
be it radical Islam/Islamism (which he calls ‘Muslim totalitarianism’),
Christian religious fundamentalism, fascism, secular dictatorships, or
extreme authoritarianism. During the twentieth century, violent conflict
on the international scene was caused by such extremist thinking, rather
than by religion per se. It is also important to remember that adherence
to strict religious practices or conservative views is no guarantee
that fundamentalism has been embraced (Brekke 2012). And while
it has often been the case that violent actions have stemmed from
fundamentalist beliefs, no automatic mechanism has been identified
whereby fundamentalism entails violence (Almond et al.2002).
Terrorism studies experts often seem to look at religion through
a narrow lens that focuses only on ideology. Rapoport (2002) was
central in popularising the term ‘religious’ (or faith-based) terrorism
with his theory of the ‘waves’ of terrorism, while others categorised
it as ‘new’ (Laqueur 1999; Neumann 2009). Juergensmeyer (2003)
warns against the cosmologies of violence emanating from religion,
and Hoffman (2006) too stresses the powerful role of religious
narratives and the position of religious leaders in legitimising acts of
violence. However these scholars are also careful not to demonise
religion per se, and they all acknowledge too that other factors need
to be taken into consideration. For instance, according to Rapoport
(2002), the latest – current – wave of religious terrorism includes
features of previous waves of terrorism (i.e. anarchy, self-determination,
socialism). Even someone like Juergensmeyer (2003), who believes
that religion has provided the motivation, world view and organisation
for either conducting or supporting acts of terrorism, acknowledges
that other contextual variables also need to be addressed in each case
being examined.
Based on a quantitative comparison of Islam-related terrorist attacks
between 1968 and 2005, Piazza (2009, 63) accepts that ‘religiouslymotivated
terrorist groups are indeed more prone than are secular groups to committing attacks that result in greater casualties’. He shows that in that period ‘Islamist groups were responsible for 93.6 per cent of all terrorist attacks by religiously-oriented groups and were responsible for 86.9 per cent of all casualties inflicted by religiously-oriented terrorist groups’ (Piazza 2009, 64). However he demystifies the assumption that Islamist terrorism is more ‘lethal’ than other types of terrorism, by pointing out the constellations of ideologies that fall under the nebulous term
‘Islamism’ and that besides religious ideologies and practice, one should
also focus on groups’ ‘organisational features’ and ‘goal structures’. On
the basis of this type of analysis, he argues, only Al Qaeda and similarly
structured groups are likely to be seriously dangerous.
Many have also asked whether economic factors have a role to play
when people engage in terrorism and in faith-based political violence.
Research by Krueger (2007) as well as by Piazza (2006) and by Canetti
et al. (2010) has found no evidence that poverty or loss of economic
resources are predictors of engagement in terrorism. However, Canetti
et al. (2010) did find that distress and loss of ‘psychological’ (rather than
economic) resources do have a correlation with religion in the context
of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Piazza, on the other hand, argues that
state repression and party politics are important predictors of terrorism
(2006) and that countries with minority groups experiencing economic
discrimination have a significant likelihood of being exposed to domestic
terrorist attacks (2011).
Another line of interpretation puts aside religious values and beliefs
to focus instead on particular individuals in privileged/elite positions
within particular religious traditions and communities. Once again,
the argument is not that religion itself leads to violence, but that it is
manipulated by opportunistic and power-thirsty (faith or political) leaders
who appropriate religious language for their own ends. Toft (2007, 103)
has named this phenomenon ‘religious outbidding’; that is, ‘elites
attempt to outbid each other to enhance their religious credentials
and thereby gain the support they need to counter an immediate
threat’. Typically religious language is used to cultivate the identity of
those mobilised and to reinforce out-group markers of the ‘other’. This
process, Stewart (2009) notes, does not happen all at once, but takes
place over a long period of time. Apart from using religion for grand
causes, it is often the case that leaders resort to it to promote their own
underlying interests and so again it is not religion per se that contributes
to conflict but rather the way it is used within societies.
Following this line of analysis, Toft shows that compared with either
Christianity or Hinduism, Islam was greatly over-represented in civil
wars in the twentieth century. She argues that political leaders in the
Islamic world used religion to lend themselves greater legitimacy,
and thus increase their capacity to mobilise the population and
strengthen their power base (Toft 2007). De Juan (2015) arrives at
a similar conclusion in his study of religious elites in intrastate conflict
escalation. Besides providing ‘quotidian norm setting’, religious
leaders ‘communicate specific narratives and shape the religious
self‑conception of the believers’ and are also crucial in the ‘constitution
of radical religious conflict interpretations’ (De Juan 2015, 764). His work
examines ‘the motives of religious elites to call for violence’ rather than
‘the structural prerequisites of their success’. Using case studies from
Thailand, Iraq and the Philippines, he shows that ‘competing religious
elites try to mobilize their followers against their rivals to establish
their predominance within their religious community’ (De Juan 2015,
765). He also notes that in this competition ‘for material and dogmatic
supremacy’, these religious elites become inclined to promote violence,
establish alliances with political elites and thus become triggers of
intra‑religious and intrastate conflicts (De Juan 2015, 762).
Religion and State Failure
There appears to be a strong correlation between the emergence of
religious conflict and situations of state failure or collapse. Fox (2007),
for instance, tracks state failures between 1960 and 2004, identifying
the shifts in the role of religion and state failure. Using data from the
State Failure dataset, he identifies an increase in state failure related
to religion as a proportion of all state failures during this period, and
finds that it became the most common kind of state failure in 2002,
after which he identifies religion as an element in the majority of all
conflicts that relate directly to state failure.
Since 11 September 2001, state failure and state collapse have been
associated with terrorism and labelled as the ‘Orthodox Failed States
Narrative’, which developed based on the experience of the rise of the
Taliban in the collapsed state of Afghanistan (Verhoeven 2009). Several
studies argue that there was an increase in Islamic extremism in the
state failures experienced in Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia in the 2000s.
However, they also differ in how much the various authors emphasise
the role of religion as a cause of increased extremism and offer different
explanations for the phenomenon.
Mwangi (2012), for example, identifies the combination of state collapse
and Islamism in Somalia as accounting for the legitimacy gained by
Harakat Al-Shabaab Al Mujaheddin (Al-Shabaab), a non-state armed
extremist group that provided local governance in Somalia, confirming
the fears that arise from the Orthodox Failed State Narrative. He
portrays Islamism not as a theological construct but as a political
ideology that helps provide answers to the contemporary social and
political challenges facing the Muslim world. Mwangi argues that radical
Islam is most powerful as a mobilising tool when Muslim populations
feel threatened by secular or Christian states. Following Hoehne (2009),
he links the rise and radicalisation of Al-Shabaab with the joint American-
Ethiopian anti-terror strategy, as well as the difficulties the Somali
people faced under conditions of state collapse, which left the country
with no central authority.
Religion as a Driver of Peace
Academic and policy-oriented literature on religion and international
affairs is rich in publications arguing that religion is a useful – if not
necessary – instrument for achieving peace. More specifically, religious
beliefs/values, religious leaders and faith-based organisations are
thought to have huge potential in promoting peace in any society and/
or in the international arena. Scholars in the US (Johnston and Sampson
1994; Johnston 2003; Appleby 2001; Gopin 2000; Smock 2002; Shah et
al. 2012; Coward and Smith 2004; Little 2007) seem to be leading this
school of thought. In fact, ‘faith-based’ diplomacy was invented in the
US (see for example the journal The Brandywine Review of Faith & International
Affairs). The US Institute of Peace has developed substantial
resources for interfaith projects and publications, and the US government
recently created an office for ‘religious engagement’ in the State
Department (Johnston and Cox 2003; Mandaville and Silvestri 2015).
However, some important works in this vein are emerging in Europe
too (e.g. Thomas 2005; Galtung and MacQueen 2008). In addition to the
academic literature, numerous faith groups and NGOs are also mobilising
and producing policy reports to promote and enhance the contribution
by religious actors to development and reconciliation.
Religious Beliefs and Values
In The Ambivalence of the Sacred, Appleby (2000) emphasises that
ethics and ethical convictions, as expressed through religious beliefs,
are main drivers for peace. Regardless of which religion may be prevalent,
the ethical power of religion can help to unite divided societies.
For Thomas (2005) too, religion has a role to play, especially as it can
facilitate a dialogue about ‘virtues’ for shaping a better society. However,
while acknowledging this and the useful characteristics of faith-based
networks and NGOs, he warns against a reductionist approach, in which
an instrumentalist perspective of religion and a logic of problem-solving
prevail while the need to address other issues and involve other actors
is downplayed or discounted. prevail while the need to address other issues and involve other actors is downplayed or discounted.
References to the Christian contribution to non-violence and
peacebuilding are abundant. The key concepts are reconciliation,
which is based on God’s own reconciliation with a sinful humanity,
the powerful model of Jesus’ self-sacrifice to redeem humanity, and
his invitation to ‘turn the other cheek’, and finally his attention to the
poor and the marginalised that encourages Christians to care about
the dignity of the human person. In Christianity, there is a close
relationship between social justice and reconciliation; one cannot
happen without the other. This helps to explain the important work
of Christian denominations in mediation and in promoting transitional
justice (see Philpott 2007b). Christian values are also at the heart of the
Western conception of human rights, even though a parallel, at times
competitive, secular account exists. In the aftermath of World War II,
the work of Christian denominations and the ecumenical movement
were important pillars for the peaceful reconstruction of Europe and in
the establishment of the European Communities (see Thomas 2005;
Byrnes and Katzenstein 2006; Leustean 2014), even though the project
of European integration later took a highly secular and liberal character,
focused mainly on economic and political reasoning.
The majority of case studies in textbooks on religion and politics refer to
mediation work or interfaith activities promoted by Christian denominations,
such as those done in South Africa with Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, in Mozambique with Sant’Egidio, in the US with Martin Luther
King, and also the courageous work in Nigeria, the Middle East and the
Balkans of various priests (see Thomas 2005; Little 2007; Smock 2002;
Lederach 1996, 1997). Buttry (1994) elaborates on the Christian heritage
of non-violence and peacebuilding. He argues that Christian teaching and
values provide the foundations for ‘Christian peacemaking’, i.e. Christianity
provides a whole set of non-violent responses to conflicts worldwide,
both within and between societies (for a similar argument see also
Friesen 1986). The work of Sampson and Lederach (2000) is often regarded
as landmark research in demonstrating the pioneer role played by
Mennonite communities in the history of their non-violent contributions
to peacemaking. In addition, Quakers and Jehovah’s Witnesses, two
groups that are part of the Christian family, have also made explicit their
pacifist stance and rejection of violence (MacCulloch 2010).
Muslim scholar Abu-Nimer (2003) argued that Islam is based on fundamental
human values encoded in the Qur’an, related religious writings
and the Islamic tradition. Based on those values, Muslim societies have
developed a considerable set of non-violent tools for conflict resolution
and peacebuilding experiences. Traditional Arab‑Muslim mechanisms
for dispute resolution include third-party mediation and arbitration
in any form of social conflict. Such mechanisms also included traditional
reconciliation methods, based on the value of forgiveness and
public repentance.
Abu-Nimer (2003) also looks at how Islam developed a theory of de
facto just war principles, both referring to jus ad bellum and jus in bello:
‘War is permissible in self-defense, and under well-defined limits. When
undertaken, it must be pushed with vigour (but not relentlessly), but
only to restore peace and freedom of worship of Allah. In any case,
strict limits must not be transgressed: women, children, old and infirm
men should not be molested, nor trees and crops cut down, nor peace
withheld when the enemy comes to terms’. At the same time, Islam
has a tradition of non-violent resistance, also cited by Abu-Nimer (2003),
which is exemplified by peaceful protests against British colonial rule in
Egypt in 1919, the 1948 Iraqi uprising, the Iran Revolution in 1978–79,
and the Sudanese insurrection of 1985.
Galtung and MacQueen (2008) analyse in detail the contribution
to peacemaking by Asian religions such as Buddhism or Taoism,
with reference to Galtung’s general theory of mentioned above.
By presenting the ideas of 18 eminent Buddhist leaders, Chappell
(1999) enlarged the understanding of Buddhist peacemaking traditions.
Starting from and underlining the central role of achieving inner peace,
he emphasises that Buddhism has a strong track record of providing
peaceful answers to social and political violence, in particular through
its worldwide grassroots work, and points to the responsibility
that Buddhists have for promoting peace. However, others critique
Buddhism for being too much of an individualistic tradition that does
not really stress the importance of being at peace with the others, and
note that it has missed opportunities to achieve peaceful solutions,
in Sri Lanka and Tibet for example (Neumaier 2004).
Religious Leaders and Religious Organizations
A rich strand of research – including a number of works commissioned
by DFID – has examined the role of faith-based organisations
and religious leaders in promoting the peaceful resolution of conflicts
through mediation. Faith-based mediation is seen as an important
contributor to conflict resolution and peace. However, no work sees this
as a complete substitute to traditional diplomatic avenues. The pioneering
work of Johnston and Sampson (1994) brought together scholars
emphasising the comparative advantage of religious actors. Basing their
findings on case studies from East Germany, Philippines, South Africa
and Zimbabwe, they argued that individuals that based their work on
either religious or spiritual thinking were in a better place to reach out to
regional and local actors than were politicians that did not. Similarly, Cox
et al. (1994) argued that religion can be well suited for resolving particularly
prolonged, stalemated or intractable conflicts. The key characteristics
associated with (typically local) religious leaders that enable them to
help in situations of conflict include authority, trust, professionalism and
also cultural and practical/experiential closeness to the people involved
(see among others: Lederach 1996; 1997; Smock 2002).
On a pragmatic level, especially when conflict resolution and peacekeeping
are proceeding in collaboration with development programmes,
religious organisations and leaders have also proven particularly effective
in delivering aid and effective development projects. This is because
faith communities, in addition to being trusted, are inexpensive and they
work rapidly, relying on wide networks of volunteers that are fervently
devoted to the cause and ready to put their lives on the line. This has
proven to be more effective than the work of the salaried staff of large
and bureaucratic international organisations and secular NGOs (Barnett
and Stein 2012).
Bercovitch and Kadayifci-Orellana (2009) focus on the conditions conducive
to the success of faith-based mediation, finding that the legitimacy
and leverage of religious actors can be powerful factors in promoting
successful mediation processes. Aroua (2010) makes a case for mediators
who have a deep understanding of religious beliefs and ideals,
which enables them to promote interreligious dialogue by translating
codes from one value system to another (‘mediators as translators’).
Funk and Woolner (2001) emphasise the role of inter-faith dialogue in
promoting conflict resolution.
Even when peace processes do not lead to a sustainable peace,
religion is nonetheless thought to positively contribute to peace as it
can help build trust between and among social groups and individuals.
Scholars have also noted that many conflicts do not have a religious
component, but that even when that is the case religious leaders can
often play a beneficial role in promoting peace (Aroua 2010).
Religious movements and leaders may also promote the setting of
national and international norms on peace, and generally contribute to
worldwide peace by changing the international discourse on religion and
peace. The historic contribution by Martin Luther King to the spread of
non-violent resistance and international and national anti-discrimination
laws is a prominent example for peace-generating dynamics, discussed
extensively in the scholarly literature.
Case studies have analysed the transformative power of religion and
contributed to scholarly thinking on what religions have in common,
rather than on what divides them. Appleby (2001) gives examples from
different faith traditions: the Catholic NGO Sant’Egidio that promotes
ethical values in conflict situations in Africa and uses mediation as
a tool to promote peace; Buddhist actors promoting human rights in
Cambodia; and Muslim communities that successfully promote peace
in parts of the Middle East. More recently, his work has focused on
‘Catholic approaches to peacebuilding’, looking at the work of many
transnational Catholic NGOs such as Caritas, and exploring how Catholic
social teaching and the ‘preferential option for the poor’ have been
gradually expanded to go beyond social and economic development,
towards ‘reconciliation’ (Schreiter et al. 2010). Michel (2008) specifically
focuses on the role that transnational Islamic movements play in
fostering non-violent relations in the Muslim world. The commitment
to positive societal change, personal transformation, and interreligious
dialogue is fundamental for these movements. ‘Study’ and ‘service’
are key elements underpinning the thinking of their adherents
(Michel 2008).
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