Christian Approaches to International Affairs

221 Pages·2012·1 MB·English

by  Jodok Troy (auth.)

Christian Approaches to International Affairs
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Christian Approaches to
International Affairs
Jodok Troy
LecturerinPoliticalScience,UniversityofInnsbruck,Austria
©JodokTroy2012
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Contents
PrefaceandAcknowledgements vii
Part I ReligionintheInternationalRealm
1 Thepowerofthe‘legionsnotalwaysvisibleon
parade’ 3
1.1 Realism,theEnglishSchool,andreligion 7
1.2 Outlineofthebook 17
1.3 Theambivalenceofreligion 19
2 Theresurgenceofreligioninglobalpolitics 27
2.1 Thesociologyofreligion 28
2.2 Religionandconflict 34
2.3 Religionand(un-)civilsociety 42
3 TheChristiancontext:religionasbeing 53
3.1 Religionandpower 55
3.2 MimesisandtheDecalogue 58
3.3 ThechallengeofapersonalGod 61
Part II TheoreticalImplications
4 Theunendingstruggle:insideandoutsidethebox 65
4.1 MacIntyre’snarrativetheory 72
4.2 Thenarrativelogicofsuicideterrorism 76
4.3 Constructivism 79
5 TheEnglishSchool:modesofsociety 86
5.1 ‘Frominternationaltoworldsociety’ 91
5.2 Pluralism,worldsocietyandreligion 96
5.3 Diversityandreligiousactors 100
6 Realism:overcomingevil 103
6.1 Evilandpessimismorvirtues? 106
6.2 Thekatéchonandthelesserevil 109
6.3 Religionand20th-centuryRealism 113
v
vi Contents
Part III Conclusion
7 Anothernotionofreligioninworldpolitics 123
7.1 Theorizingreligionandinternationalrelations 128
7.2 Threecasesforthebetter 130
7.3 Thinkingdifferentlyofreligioninglobalpolitics 139
Notes 145
References 182
Index 209
Preface and Acknowledgements
I am convinced of the authenticity of the thesis of falsification
presented by the Austrian philosopher of science Sir Karl R. Popper.
It was when I searched for his tracks in Christchurch, New Zealand
that I developed major ideas about the present study. At the same
timeIamjustasconvincedthatmonotheism,especiallyChristianity,
is a source of being, of being free, and the way of respecting the
human being and life as it is. This, however, is a thesis which can
hardlybefalsified.InknowingthatthereisoneGodwhochallenges
humansinapersonalway,whoevenbecamehimselfahumanbeing,
lies the real source of being and freedom at the same time. I am
convinced that religion, at its best, is always peaceful, and thus can
contribute much to peace on Earth, despite all the forces that do
otherwise.
Therefore, as I argue in this study, it is necessary to have a closer
lookat religionin global politics,theoreticallyas wellas practically,
withafocusthatdoesnotblindordeceiveusintoillusion.Indeed,we
mustacknowledgesome‘disgustingdissonances’inhumanconduct,
suchasthosetheSunobservesinJuraSoyfer’splayDerWeltuntergang
oder Die Welt steht auf keinen Fall mehr lang1 (1936) about the solar
system. Sometimes it seems that those ‘disgusting dissonances’ are
causedbyreligion.Thisbecomesparticularlyobviouswhenweface,
oncemoreandinanageoftenclaimedandassumedtobe‘secular’,
so-calledreligiousconflicts.Inhisplay,Soyferwarnsofthedoomof
the upcoming Second World War. Humankind is threatened by the
endoftheworldahead,andallthatpeoplearedoingisstaggeringin
stupidityandblindnesstowardtheendoftheworld.Soyferillustrates
the state of human conduct. But in the end the Earth is saved once
more because the comet, Konrad, dispatched to destroy the Earth,
fallsinlovewithher.Soyfer’splayabouthumanincorrigibilityends
withadeclarationoflovefortheEarthinthelyric:
VollHungerundVollBrotistdieseErde,VollLebenundvollTod
ist diese Erde, In Armut und in Reichtum grenzenlos. Gesegnet
vii
viii PrefaceandAcknowledgements
und Verdammt ist diese Erde. Von Schönheit hell umflammt ist
dieseErde,UndihreZukunftistherrlichundgroß.2
At its best, religion acknowledges this song’s statement. There is
hunger but, at the same time, enough bread for all. There is death
but, at the same time, life. First of all, one has to acknowledge and
cometotermswiththoseexisting‘disgustingdissonances’inhuman
and thus political conduct. At the same time, this Earth is the best
we have. Therefore, taking religion seriously in international affairs
canonlyresultinanoptimisticview,despitepessimisticassumptions
abouthumannature.
The empirical phenomenon of pluralization is slowly replacing
the theoretical underpinning of secularization. Pluralism, however,
assertsthatpeoplehavetherightofdifferentinterpretationsofplu-
ralized truths. Pluralism, as a mere normative conception, acknowl-
edges the existence of a moral horizon, shared by all human beings
of good will – that is, so to say, the will to live. The scholar Martin
Wight,apointofreferenceinthisstudy,arguedthatdomesticpoliti-
caltheoryisa‘theoryofthegoodlife’.Thisisbecauseoftherelation,
regulationandinterconnectednessofthestateandthecitizen.Inter-
national theory on the other hand, however, is merely a ‘theory of
survival’. Following Thomas Hobbes, one might, in any case, argue
that ‘survival’ involves the greatest good and right: ‘the goodness
of life as such, of being alive and enjoying life’ as Robert Jackson
has outlined in his appraisal of Martin Wight. Even more: ‘If there
werenobasisforthegoodlifeinsidestates,therewouldbenopoint
in their survival.’ It is the ‘goodness of life as such’ which is per-
hapsthemostfundamentalbasisofwhatseriousreligiousvaluesare
about.Althoughthereareothers,suchassimpleacademiccuriosity,
acknowledgingthatverytruthisthemotivationofthisstudy.
Intermsofpoliticaltheory,thereareuniversalvalues,suchaslib-
ertyandequality,thatdistinguishpluralismfromethicalrelativism.
Some call for a need of a so-called ‘conflictual consensus’ (Chantal
Mouffe): a consensus on the ethical–political values of freedom and
equality of all, as well as of religious values; and a dissent over the
interpretation of these values. The ‘holiness of life’, as Christianity
holdsit,iscertainlynotamongthem.
The present study has travelled a long and complicated journey.
First of all it is a form of conclusion to my dissertation, which
PrefaceandAcknowledgements ix
I completed under a slightly different title in 2008. Some of the
more specific chapters of the dissertation – the issues of the Roman
CatholicChurchininternationalaffairs,faith-baseddiplomacy,and
the sketch of Dag Hammarskjöld – had already been published
elsewhere. What I present here is a mere theoretical framework of
understandingreligionininternationalrelations.Or,toputitrather
simply:toacknowledgereligioninthecontextofglobalpoliticswith
aChristianlens,withoutclaimingtobeatheologicalstudy.
Thereisalonglistofpeoplewhocontributedinsomeoranother
waytothisstudy.FirstofallIamespeciallythankfultomydisserta-
tionsupervisorFranzKernic.Heencouragedmetostudythissubject
in more depth. Moreover, he accepted and continues to accept my
opinionsandthoughts,andhelpedmetoorderthemmoresystemat-
ically.ThesameistrueformysecondsupervisorWolfgangPalaver.He
helpedmewiththestudy’stheologicalelements,andclearlypointed
out other opinions and helpful hints along the way, and thankfully
hestilldoesso.
Furthermore I would like to thank Thomas Banchoff, Rebecca
Glazier, Lucian Leustean, Daniel Philpott, Christoph Rohde,
Alexander Stummvoll and Scott Thomas. They all read major parts
of the manuscript and commented critically and in a very helpful
manneratvariouspointsduringthewritingofthisbook.Iampartic-
ularlyindebtedtoScottThomaswithwhomIbegananencouraging
conversation about the topic of religion and international relations
sometimeago,whichhasneverstoppedsince.
I also would like to thank Georgetown University in Washington,
D.C.anditscentresforPeaceandSecurityStudies,andtheBerkeley
Center for Religion, Peace and International Affairs. In 2007 I was
in Georgetown for a research visit and was deeply influenced by its
intellectual,butalsohumanspirit.Igainedmuch,ifnotmost,ofmy
inspirationfromthere.Ifoundawellspringof‘soft’intellectual,per-
sonal,andhumaninspiration,aswellas‘hard’materialfacts,during
myresearchandconservationsthere.
In a similar way, although in a more ‘Protestant environment’,
comparedtothe‘Catholic’oneinGeorgetown,Igainedmanyintel-
lectual insights during my stay at Boston University’s Institute of
Culture,ReligionandWorldAffairs(CURA)in2010.Iamparticularly
indebted to Peter Berger of Boston University, a sociologist of reli-
gion and fellow-countryman. My time and conversations at Boston