Bringing Religion Into International Relations

JONATHAN FOX is currently a Lecturer in the Political Studies Department of Bar Ilan University, Ramat Tan, Israel. His research interests include the role of religion in conflict, international relations, and politics, as well as issues of separation of religion and state. He has published numerous articles on these topics in journals as well as his recent book Ethnoreligious Conflict in the Late Twentieth Century. SHMUEL SANDLER is Professor of Political Science and International politics, and holds the Sara and Simha Lainer Chair in Democracy and Civility. He has authored and

'This book, by two highly regarded experts on international conflict, takes an excellent step forward along a neglected path, namely, the one leading to the study of the impact of religion. This ambitious book succeeds in covering an agenda that ranges from theoretical issues about legitimacy to the role religion plays in the ongoing conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. In sum, this superb book contains much that will interest students of international relations, religion and area experts on the Middle East.' - Patrick James, Professor of Political Science, University of Missouri, USA, and Editor, International Studies Quarterly 'This broad-ranging and well documented analysis of the global impact of religion represents a felicitous combination of approaches. It deals at once with questions of ideology and legitimacy and the debate about conflicts of nationalism and ethnicity. It is a significant contribution to the study of international relations.' - William Safran, University of Colorado at Boulder, USA 'If 9/11 proved anything, it was the enormously influential role that religious extremism plays in contemporary affairs. Jonathan Fox and Shmuel Sandler understand the essential need for International Relations experts, at long last, to integrate a sophisticated understanding of religion into their analyses of world politics. Accordingly, they have provided an engaging and well-researched guidebook for the task. Bringing Religion into International Politics will quickly become the standard introduction and overview for anyone seeking to comprehend the complex dynamics of religion and power in the Twenty-first century.' - R. Scott Appleby, Author of The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Violence and Reconciliation and Professor of History, University of Notre Dame, USA '...a contribution that will enjoy wide acceptance as one of the first texts to urge for the inclusion of religious discourse through paradigm modification in international relations. Fox and Sandler have done a great service to the social sciences with the publication of this book.' - John K. Burk, International Journal of Public Theology

• Introduction The Overlooked Dimension Religion and Legitimacy Local Religious Conflicts are Transnational Issues Transnational Religious Phenomena The "Clash of Civilizations" Debate The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: A Case Study of Religion and International Politics Toward a Theory of International Relations and Religion