ABSTRACT

In recent years, religion has made a remarkable return to prominence in international politics. Confounding the expectations of secularists, today religion has a strong – perhaps growing – significance as a strong source of identity for millions of people, especially in the developing world. In many countries, religious individuals and organisations are important carriers of ideas, norms and values. They often play important roles both as a source of conflict and as a tool for conflict resolution and peace building via early warnings of conflict, as good offices once conflict has erupted, as well as in advocacy, mediation and reconciliation. As a result, religions are strongly associated with issues of security versus insecurity, as their hatreds and differences are central to many recent and current conflicts in the developing world.