Religion and Diplomacy

Many flashpoints of violence and conflict around the world involve religious actors both as part of the crisis and potentially part of the solution. Until recently, however, states have been slow to see a role for religion in diplomacy. In this article, which is taken from a lecture that he delivered to the London Academy of Diplomacy, the author explores the notion of faith-based diplomacy and delineates the characteristics of a faith-based diplomat. The argument is that a religious view of the world functions as a Gestalt through which events and data in the public arena are filtered. The faith-based diplomat is one whose religious knowledge and skills allow the diplomat to decode the religious rhetoric by which crises are often articulated. As in the case of Northern Ireland, peace has a chance when the rhetoric is decoded and when local religious actors are party to the diplomatic process.