Introduction: Interfaith on the World Stage

Abstract

In the wake of the events of 9/11, there has emerged a now significant body of literature that seeks to account for the “return” or “resurgence” of religion in international relations. Insofar as this literature typically focuses on particular religious traditions, however, a critical blind spot has developed whereby the contemporaneous proliferation of transnational interfaith initiatives-that necessarily rely on the collaborative efforts of two or more religious traditions-has often been overlooked. This introduction to the special issue highlights this oversight and explores the role of interfaith actors, organizations and initiatives in the broader narrative of the ‘return’ of religion in international relations.

Keywords:

• international relations
• faith-based diplomacy
• interfaith dialogue

ORCID

John Fahy http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7669-4913

Jeffrey Haynes http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8434-6951

Notes

1 Source: http://tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/foundation/our-mission

2 Source: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002211/221198e.pdf

3 Source: http://institute.global/making-globalisation-work-many

4 Source: http://religionandpolitics.org/2017/09/05/how-the-state-department-has-sidelined-religions-role-in-diplomacy/

Additional information

Funding

This research was made possible by NPRP grant #7-585-6-020 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors. The Enhancing Life Project, under auspices of Profs. Bill Schweiker, University of Chicago, and Gunter Thomas, University of the Ruhr at Bochum (http://enhancinglife.uchicago.edu/). The funding came from the John Templeton Foundation.

Notes on contributors

John Fahy

John Fahy is a Research Fellow at Georgetown University, Qatar and the Woolf Institute, Cambridge, where he leads a comparative project that focuses on interfaith initiatives in Delhi, Doha and London.

Jeffrey Haynes

Jeffrey Haynes is emeritus professor of politics at London Metropolitan University. He is the author or editor of 45 books, 80 peer-reviewed articles and 120 chapters in edited books. His most recent book is The United Nations Alliance of Civilisations and the Pursuit of Global Justice: Overcoming Western versus Muslim Conflict and the Creation of a Just World Order, New York and Lampeter, Edwin Mellen Press, 2018.