The Sacred and the Sovereign: Religion and International Politics
"A significant contribution to advancing our understanding of the nexus between international politics and religious beliefs and institutions.The Sacred and the Sovereignshould generate healthy debate among students of religion and international politics. Hopefully, it will also convince skeptical readers of the great importance of Islam and Christianity and their attendant belief systems and institutions on the stage of world politics." --International Studies Review"A timely study of the importance of religion in understanding international affairs, with some contributors arguing for the importance of religion in informing and sometimes guiding international affairs.... Highly recommended for anyone thinking about religion and the state of the world." --Virginia Quarterly Review"Will greatly enhance the public understanding of religion's role in political thought and international affairs. Readers intrigued by the demands of justice and state sovereignty, humanitarian intervention, war crimes, human rights, and the bases for political authority in a post-secular age will find much here to enrich the mind. Building on Augustine, Reinhold Niebuhr, Islamic tradition, and Catholic social teaching (among others), these essays will interest a broad range of scholars, citizens, and policymakers." --Richard B. Miller, professor and chair, Department of Religious Studies, Indiana University"The prophets of the brave new world told us that by this time, religion would be dead. Brave or not, the new world came, and lo, it is more religious than the old one. Carlson and Owens realize that religious questions are real questions, and they won't go away." --J. Budziszewski, University of Texas at Austin and author ofThe Revenge of Conscience"I know of no comparable dialogue between theologians, scholars of religion and religious leaders on one hand, and political scientists, military experts and diplomatic leaders on the other. This volume offers a discerning set of perspectives on the relationship of divine sovereignty to the changing senses of the sovereignty of the nation state in a global era. Marked by discussions of the increasingly trans-cultural acceptance of the doctrines of human rights, just and unjust wars, and the duties of humanitarian intervention, views of the sacred are shaping both polity and policy, nationally and internationally, in ethical directions today. The implications for a contemporary understanding of the interplay of religion and politics in a constructive, and not only a de-constructive, postmodern future are profound." --Max L. Stackhouse, professor of christian ethics and director, Kuyper Center for Public Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary"What has Jerusalem to say to Rome (the Vatican to Washington, or Mecca to Riyadh)? After Kosovo, the second intifada, and September 11, fourteen illuminating essays by engaged scholars, policymakers, and warriors offer answers about the new relationships of religious conviction and political sovereignty in tomorrow's world." --Tom Grassey, James B. Stockdale Chair of Leadership and Ethics, U.S. Naval War College"The Sacred and the Sovereignexplores a vital and growing tension in international politics that surprisingly few scholars have noticed, one between forms of sacredness that are increasingly asserting their own versions of sovereignty, and the state, which has enjoyed sovereign status since the Peace of Westphalia. In assembling a coalition of top flight scholars to cover the sundry manifestations of this tension -- in scholarly discourse about justice and war, in conflicts like Kosovo, in the rise of new institutions like the international criminal court -- John Carlson and Erik Owens provide rich fare for hungry intellects." --Daniel Philpott, assistant professor, Department of Political Science and faculty fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame"A highly useful collection of thoughtful, reflective essays on the intersections, overlaps, and tensions between religion and realpolitik in humanitarian interventions, from a rich array of perspectives -- theological, philosophical, diplomatic, and military. Taken together, they constitute a marvelous resource for both research and teaching." --Albert C. Pierce, director, Center for the Study of Professional Military Ethics, U.S. Naval Academy