The role of religion in international relations

Solly Rakgomo | Tuesday September 3, 2024 08:59

Since the Peace of Westphalia (1648), religion has been largely excluded from international political discourse. However, following the terrorist events of September 11, 2001, religion has reemerged as a crucial subject of study in international relations. In this modern time, while most contemporary nation-states are secular, countries such as India, Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the United States remain influenced by religious concerns in their foreign policy. This broadly reflects the connection between material concerns and the ideational realm (including norms and values), or more specifically, the role of religion in shaping national interests.

Theoretically, international relations scholars have begun to examine the role of religion in explaining various issues, particularly national interest in international relations. Constructivism, born in the 1980s, with some prominent representatives such as Nicholas Onuf and Alexander Wendt, has provided a new framework for approaching national interests. Constructivism posits that crucial elements of international relations are socially constructed. When it comes to national interests, constructivists believe that a state’s interests are not predetermined, as deposited by mainstream theories, but are shaped by shared ideas and its own national identities.

As constructivism focuses on how individuals construct specific conceptions of the world through habits, thoughts, values, and discourses, religious worldviews provide a framework through which individuals and states interpret the world. The actors’ actions in international relations are always tied to social and intersubjective structures such as ideology, culture, or religion. Based on that, international relations actors construct their identities and interests.

From a constructivist perspective, religion can shape national identity and interests on two levels. First, there is a close relationship between religion and national identity, at least since the late 17th century. National identity is a country’s characteristic formed by ethnicity, history, and culture. Culture is a set of components, including beliefs, values, practices, norms, language, religion, social organisation, art, technology, etc., shared and maintained by a group of people or society.

Constructivists view religion as part of the source shaping national identity. Second, national interests are determined not only by material factors such as power and economics but also by non-material factors such as national identity and cultural values. As religion shapes identity, it also shapes state interests. National identity plays a role in shaping the perception of “Self” and how one perceives oneself compared to “Other.”

In this context, identity prescribes a set of interests or preferences regarding action choices in specific domains and concerning specific actors. It can be observed that religious beliefs and practices are strong shared values that can become an important cultural foundation of a society. These values can translate into national interests when intrinsically linked to state identity. In such cases, a state with a national identity closely tied to a specific religion may prioritise protecting religious sites or promoting religious values in foreign policy.

In Indonesia, Islam, the country’s largest religion, has significantly influenced the formation of the Republic of Indonesia. Most Indonesians today believe that the Islamic faith is the fundamental foundation of the Indonesian state. Although Indonesian officials deny their foreign policy is influenced by Islam, the religion has played an increasingly important role in Indonesia’s international affairs. The shift in Indonesia’s foreign policy partly stems from growing internal pressure after the mass protests on November 4, 2016. The Indonesian government has shown a tendency to engage more in Islamic-related issues worldwide, as evidenced by its stance on Palestine, the Rohingya, and the Uyghurs.

Another striking case is how religious beliefs and values impact India’s national interests. Despite being a secular state, religion still has specific influences on India’s national interests. For years, since India’s independence in 1947, its national interests and foreign policy have not been influenced by religious elements. The rise of nationalism among Hindus, especially under the government of Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, has led to changes in Indian foreign policy goals, which are strongly influenced by Hindutva. For instance, India is now actively building closer relationships with the US and Israel based on typical “Islamophobia” and anti-Arabism, as well as isolating Pakistan in the international arena.

In conclusion, most countries today are secular states. However, it is evident that religion can significantly influence national interests, most clearly in countries where religious groups have considerable political influence and religious values are closely tied to national identities