God and International Affairs

At Public Discourse this week, Timothy Shah, Daniel Philpott, and Monica Toft offer a three-part summary of the findings and arguments in their new book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics .  In Monday’s installment, ” God and Political Science ,” they describe the origins and consequences of the peculiar blind spot in their (and my) discipline, especially in the fields of comparative politics and international relations, when it comes to religion.  Faith was supposed to die out, you see, as nations “modernized,” but inconveniently it did not.  In Wednesday’s essay, ” God and Democratic Diplomacy ,” the authors sketch the causes of the global resurgence of religious faith, what it has meant in various societies, and what that resurgence should mean for U.S. diplomacy.  And in today’s conclusion, ” God and Terror ,” they forthrightly confront the problem of religiously-motivated violence—a problem that must be combated without engaging in an unjust and unwinnable war against religion itself.  This is an illuminating series of essays, and a fine invitation to what is surely a rewarding book (I have my copy, and mean to get to it soon).