Religion and Public Diplomacy

225 Pages·2013·1.393 MB·English

by  Philip Seib (eds.)

Palgrave Macmillan Series in Global Public Diplomacy
Series editors:
Kathy Fitzpatrick , Quinnipiac University, USA
Philip Seib , University of Southern California, USA
Advisory Board:
Nicholas J. Cull , University of Southern California, USA
Teresa LaPorte , University of Navarre, Spain
Donna Lee , Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
Jan Melissen , Netherlands Institute of International Relations Clingendael,
Netherlands
Abeer Najjar , American University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates
William A. Rugh , Former US Ambassador to Yemen and
United Arab Emirates, USA
Cesar Villanueva Rivas , Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico
Li Xiguang , Tsinghua University, China
At no time in history has public diplomacy played a more significant role in world
affairs and international relations. As a result, global interest in public diplomacy has
escalated, creating a substantial academic and professional audience for new works in
the field.
This series examines theory and practice in public diplomacy from a global per-
spective, looking closely at public diplomacy concepts, policies, and practices in vari-
ous regions of the world. The purpose is to enhance understanding of the importance
of public diplomacy, to advance public diplomacy thinking, and to contribute to
improved public diplomacy practices.
The editors welcome submissions from scholars and practitioners representing a
range of disciplines and fields (including diplomacy, international relations, interna-
tional communications, public relations, political science, global media, marketing/
advertising) and offering diverse perspectives. In keeping with its global focus, the
series encourages non-US-centric works and comparative studies.
Toward a New Public Diplomacy: Redirecting U.S. Foreign Policy
Edited by Philip Seib
Soft Power in China: Public Diplomacy through Communication
Edited by Jian Wang
Public Diplomacy and Soft Power in East Asia
Edited by Sook Jong Lee and Jan Melissen
The Practice of Public Diplomacy: Confronting Challenges Abroad
Edited by William A. Rugh
The Decline and Fall of the United States Information Agency: American Public Diplomacy,
1989–2001
Nicholas J. Cull
Beyond Cairo: US Engagement with the Muslim World
Darrell Ezell
Collaborative Public Diplomacy: How Transnational Networks Influenced American
Studies in Europe
Ali Fisher
Religion and Public Diplomacy
Edited By Philip Seib
Religion and Public
Diplomacy
Edited by
Philip Seib
RELIGION AND PUBLIC DIPLOMACY
Copyright © Philip Seib, 2013.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2013 978-1-137-29111-0
All rights reserved.
First published in 2013 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-45074-9 ISBN 978-1-137-29112-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137291127
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available from the
Library of Congress.
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: June 2013
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
C O N T E N T S
Acknowledgments vii
List of Contributors i x
Introduction 1
Philip Seib
One Why Religion Still Matters in the World 9
Brie Loskota and Richard Flory
Two P ope John Paul II, Radio Free Europe, and
Faith Diplomacy 27
Daniel Hall
Three Vatican Diplomacy in China and Vietnam 5 7
Lan T. Chu
Four China’s Faith Diplomacy 75
Juyan Zhang
Five Public Diplomacy and Transnational Cases
of Blasphemy 9 9
Najeeba Syeed-Miller
Six M uslims’ Online Faith Diplomacy 1 13
Mohammed el-Nawawy
Seven The Minaret Referendum and Switzerland’s
Proactive Public Diplomacy 133
Johannes Matyassy and Seraina Flury
vi Contents
Eight Capturing the World’s Attention: Buddhist
Media Diplomacy in Myanmar 1 57
Diane Winston
Nine S haping the Narrative of Religious Freedom 181
Liora Danan
Conclusion The Future of Religion and Public Diplomacy 215
Philip Seib
Index 221
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
This book came about as part of the Faith Diplomacy Initiative begun
in 2011 by the University of Southern California’s Center on Public
Diplomacy. The initiative has included a conference, at which some of
this book’s contributors were participants, and numerous online and
print publications. This is an ongoing project that we hope will lead to
additional material that will be of use to scholars and policymakers.
At the heart of this effort has been the staff of the Center on Public
Diplomacy: Sherine Badawi Walton, Stacy Ingber, Naomi Leight, and
Vikki Hsieh. This team’s collective intellect and energy have made pos-
sible our work on the connections between religion and public diplo-
macy. As editor of this volume and director of the Center, I owe them
great thanks.
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C O N T R I B U T O R S
Lan T. Chu is associate professor in the department of Diplomacy and
World Affairs at Occidental College. Her work on the Catholic Church
has been published by P olitics and Religion, Democratization , the J ournal of
Vietnamese Studies , and BBC Vietnam. Her chapter on the Vietnamese
Catholic Church has appeared in the edited volume Local Organizations
and Urban Governance in East and Southeast Asia (Routledge 2009).
Liora D anan i s an adjunct fellow with the International Center for
Religion and Diplomacy, and has served as director of Special Projects
with the Middle East Program at the Institute on Global Conflict
and Cooperation (IGCC) at the University of California. She has also
served as a fellow and researcher at the US Commission on International
Religious Freedom and the Center for Strategic and International
Studies.
Mohammed e l-Nawawy is Knight-Crane endowed chair and asso-
ciate professor in the School of Communication at Queens University
of Charlotte. He has authored and coauthored books including I slam
dot Com: Contemporary Islamic Discourses in Cyberspace ; A l-Jazeera: The
Story of the Network that Is Rattling Governments and Redefining Modern
Journalism ; and The Israeli-Egyptian Peace Process in the Reporting of Western
Journalists . He is the founding and senior editor of the Journal of Middle
East Media and serves on the editorial boards of Media, War and Conflict
and Global Media Journal .
Richard F lory is director of research at the USC Center for Religion
and Civic Culture and associate research professor of Sociology at USC.
He is author of Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives
of Teens ; Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation ;
and GenX Religion.