FREE ESSAY ON RELIGION, THE MISSING DIMENSION OF STATECRAFT

RELIGION, THE MISSING DIMENSION OF STATECRAFT

Religion, The Missing Dimension of Statecraft
Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson, editors
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Editors: Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson compiled these essays for the Center for
Strategic and International Studies. Douglas Johnston has since founded the International
Center for Religion and Diplomacy, with the goal of encouraging faith based mediation
through education and strategy development. Cynthia Sampson is the president of Peace
Discovery Initiatives, a faith-based organization with the goal of peace building around
the world.
Argument: The main focus of this book is to bring religion back into politics. For
various reasons, the religion factor has been removed from policy making around the
world, to the detriment of international relations. Johnston conveys the importance of
religion when dealing with international policy, especially when one of the parties has a
worldview that is deeply rooted in religion. Seven examples of how religious involvement
positively affected international relations and eventually brought about reconciliation
are used: the role of the Moral Re-Armament Movement in Franco-German Reconciliation, the
role of religious groups, especially the Quakers, in restoring peace between the
Sandinistas and the East Coast Indians, the role of the Quakers in the Nigerian civil
war, the role of the churches in East Germany during the break down of the Berlin wall
and the events leading up to that even, the role of the Catholic Church and the 1968
revolution in the Philippines, the role of the church during apartheid in South Africa,
and the role of religious actors in the transformation of Rhodesia to Zimbabwe. 
The main reason given for the success of religious actors in conflict resolution is their
ability to gain trust and act as "honest brokers" between the groups involved. The
Western powers cannot afford to ignore the importance of religion around the world nor
can they afford to let the rare skills of relationship building brought by religious
actors to go to waste. Religious groups have the desire and key qualities of trust
building, patience, and unbiased involvement necessary to facilitate reconciliation and
build peace around the world. These attributes are vital to reconciliation and mediation
in a world where deception and diplomacy often come hand in hand. 
Analysis: It clear that one of the key factors of the success of religious actors (RAs)
in conflict resolution is their focus on reconciliation and a true desire to be unbiased
mediators. Unlike others at the proverbial table of peacebuilding, religious actors
usually seek only reconciliation and peace, and not personal gain. This, along with their
ability to build faithful relationships, is a vital part of their work. Many government
officials have picked up on this, and have used them to carry messages between themselves
and other parties involved in conflict. RAs are often referred to as "honest brokers" in
the book; years of trust building were required to build these bonds of trust. However,
this trust is invaluable when it came time to sit down and talk. Most faith-based NGOs
see this as a core value of the process of reconciliation; they understand the need for a
trusting relationship to be built in order to be truly reconciled. Emerging leaders
should take the message of this book into consideration and know that in order to truly
change the world reconciliation must be built on a firm foundation of trust and honesty,
both of which are key elements in faith-based mediation. The subject of why religion has
been taken out of contemporary diplomacy was neglected, though this information would
have given the reader a firmer foundation from which to defend their argument to include
religion as a factor in international policy. 
The book is very thorough and well thought out. Readers will become well educated about
the facts and people involved in each story. A reader should be very careful not to let
the endless details slow their reading but to continue to gain an understanding. The book
is useful to both the reader that just wants ideas pertaining to the use of religion in
international policy and the reader who is looking for specific examples to use. I found
myself confused by the style of some of the authors that wrote in great detail and
reiterated their examples two or three times, being more specific each time. Be prepared
for this but not discouraged. If you are looking for research material these details will
benefit you, if not simply skim through the detailed facts and take what information you
find necessary. This book is easy to follow and provides great information on many of the
key players in conflict resolution around the world, such as the Quakers in London, the
Organization for African Unity in Africa, and the Moral Re-Armament group that has worked
all around the world. The editors took care to provide every detail possible about each
event.