The Global Politics of Interreligious Dialogue

Abstract

Abstract The Global Politics of Interreligious Dialogue examines the growth of interreligious dialogue initiatives in the Middle East and their use by states as a policy instrument for engaging with religious communities and ideas. The book argues that this growth is best understood as the result of a complex interplay of geopolitical interests, ideational development, and religious change. In doing so, it interprets these initiatives as a concrete example of religion operating in contemporary global politics and as yielding critical insights about the relationship between religion, politics, and modernity. The book is divided into three parts. Part I builds a theoretical framework to analyze the dynamics of power, ideas, and practices at work in the politics of interreligious dialogue. It begins by considering state-centric accounts of dialogue. It then turns to theories of postsecularism and post-Islamism to conceptualize the new ideas and practices of citizenship, religious pluralism, and social solidarity which characterize dialogue initiatives in the region. Part II explores the history of interreligious dialogue and the evolution of theological approaches to religious pluralism in the traditions of Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam. It analyzes key interreligious dialogue declarations produced in the Middle East over the past two decades, including the “A Common Word” letter, the Marrakesh Declaration, and the Human Fraternity document. Finally, drawing on five years of ethnographic fieldwork, Part III presents four case studies of dialogue in the region: the Focolare Community in Algeria, the Adyan Foundation in Lebanon, KAICIID of Saudi Arabia, and DICID of Qatar.