It’s time for IR scholars and policy makers to let go of the use of the term ‘theocracy’ to explain the dynamics of religion-led politics worldwide.
Being empathetic is not the same as morally approving of violence but understanding that there can be a political and religious rationale behind ‘their’ violence.
Cultural factors ensure that Pakistan’s relationship to its citizens is mediated by Muslim nationalism, rather than internationally recognized human rights norms.
In supplanting a secular discourse with a religious discourse, actors are engaged on the basis of their faith and as representatives of a perceived religious community.
Through a local symbol of resistance, Taiwanese people can feel capable of ‘resisting’ Chinese domination: a parallel with Nazha’s resistance to his father’s authority.
While there are a variety of explanations for the resurgence of religious politics, an understanding of precisely how religion relates to modern politics is missing.
Any attempt to keep things together in holistic ways, will have intimations of religion which continually challenge any geopolitics based on liberal values.
Secularisation theory wrongly predicted religion’s death, yet this theory is still a crucial source of insight on the nature of religion’s opposition in world politics.
In the prevailing nationalist discourse any discoveries of faith raise the suspicion of a religious obscurantism, extra-territorial allegiances, or threats of terrorism.
Perceptions of religion remain stuck in an old paradigm which does not represent the extent of the religious revolution that is taking place.
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