6533b826fe1ef96bd1283566

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Faith- based diplomacy and cultural security: Between pluralism and particularism

subject

description

Two basic approaches to faith-based diplomacy (FBD) have developed over the last twenty years. For some, it is a synonym of supra-denominational conflict prevention and resolution, and for others, it is an element of the state’s foreign policy exploited to achieve not just cultural but also political goals. The purpose of the chapter is to present the interrelationships between FBD and cultural security in the context of the “return of religion” and the “post-secular turn”. The conducted analysis, which is theoretical in nature, contributes to the discussion on the role of the religious determinant, pointing to the existence of two fundamentally separate approaches to the application of religious ideas in the field of foreign policy and, more broadly, international relations. On the one hand, it is a pluralistic approach, characterized by a striving for the universalization of religious ideas regarded as a supra-denominational foundation, which enables religion to be included in public discourse in line with the post-secular postulate. On the other hand, it is a particularistic approach, openly striving to subordinate politics to the dictates of one specific religious doctrine and thus becoming a threat to both the cultural and political security of groups with less decision-making capacity