The global resurgance of religion and the transformation of international relations

the long version

This book is about the global resurgence of culture and religion in international relations, how these social changes are transforming our understanding of IR theory, and some of the key policy-related issue areas in world politics. It is evident in the on-going debates over the 'root causes' of the tragic events of 11 September that there are many scholars, journalists, and members of the public, who still believe culture and religion can be explained away by appeals to more 'basic' economic, social, or political forces in society. Therefore, this book presents an argument for taking culture - and, particularly, religion - as social forces that are important for understanding world politics in the post-Westphalian era. The scope of this book is broader than religious extremism or fundamentalism because of the importance of the second aspect of the global resurgence of religion: it is occurring not only in countries with different cultures and religions, but also in countries with different levels of economic development. If this is the case, then the global resurgence of religion can not be explained away as a reactionary protest against modernization, nor as a feature of world poverty caused by globalization. Instead, it should be interpreted as a part of a cultural, more wide-ranging, crisis of modernity in both the Western industrialized countries and in the developing world. --From publisher's description.