'Four religions of foreign policy: Modelling political interactions between secular and religious interests'

TL;DRAbstract

The paper addresses whether, and how, ‘religion’ can be a strategic category employed in the making of foreign policy. Three arguments are presented: firstly, the sustained discourse on religion in IR, and several notable foreign policy initiatives by states, suggest that religion should be a regular rather than an occasional category employed in foreign policy thinking; second, the strategic judgements of policy makers toward religion require a working knowledge of the complex interplay between secular and sacral interests occurring in world politics; third, foreign policy development that is guided by a nuanced approach toward religion can inform the strategic behaviour of states. The paper culminates by proposing a quadrant model that will enable foreign policy makers to understand and categorise the political interactions between secular and religious interests for strategic benefits.

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