Religion and International Relations

Religion and International RelationsIntroductionReligion (noun) the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, specially a personal God or gods.In novel times, religious belief isnt just the belief and worship of a supernatural entity. It is a air of life. Since birth, children be indoctrinated into their parents religion. Traditions, practices and values, both positive and negative are taught till they become common feature. Religion permeates into the lives of people completely and seamlessly.Given its permeant nature, it is unsurprising that religion affects relations between people and on a larger scale relationships between nations. This project analyses the effects of religion on the international scale. Through case studies, it will highlight the advantageous as well as detrimental role of religion in maintaining sleep between countries. The phrase will not focus on the various troths/ peace processes themselves, instead, it will detail the religious b ackground, the issues and proposed solutions.Case Study 1 bully of Israel and the Israel Palestine fightBackground to the ConflictJerusalem and opposite holy sites of the Middle eastern United States are holy to the three major Abrahamic religions namely saviourianity, Judaism and Islam. Historically speaking, there perplex been sextuple betrothals over the self-will of these locations. The most famous being The blessed Crusades.In modern times, this has continued into the Israel Palestine conflict.The roots of the conflict lie in the late 19th and early 20th century. This period saw the rise of nationalist movements amongst Jews and to a fault amongst Arabs. Both movements wished for a sovereign state for their people, in the region. It was as well as a time of large scale Jewish immigration into the region. Jews were escaping the chaos caused by the Russian Revolution and later the Holocaust during WW2.In 1920,Haj Amin al-Hussein emerged as the leader for the Pale stinian Arab Nationalist Movement. The man saw the Jewish Nationalist Movement and Jewish immigration as the primary enemies to his goal. This led to large scale riots and craze between the two sides. Sporadic bursts of violence continued till the start of WW2.Post WW2 tensions arose out-of-pocket to the large scale immigration of Holocaust survivors. This was fuelled by the stories that were approach shot out the Holocaust. The corroborate resulted in Jews attacking on the Arabs as well as the British Administration.In 1947, the British Mandate approached the United Nations to tolerate a solution to the problems in Palestine. The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine proposed a division of territory on the basis of religion. The area was to be dual-lane into three parts. An independent Arab state and an Independent Jewish state while Jerusalem and Bethlehem remained under UN control.Jews were dissatisfied by the loss of Jerusalem but judge the decision. notwithstandi ng it was vehemently opposed by the Arabs. This led to eruption of a Civil War in the region. Jews in the region were conscripted into an army. With British aid, they annexed territories to form modern day Israel.The ConflictIn 1948, The Israeli Declaration of Independence was signed officially declaring the State of Israel as an independent nation. Since then the region has been under nine-fold wars and conflicts. The Arab nations surrounding Israel universally opposed its existence. They trained armies and rebels to conquer the nation.In 1967 during The Six Day War, Israel occupied areas of Palestine beyond its borders. Including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israelis maintain since started settling in the region.Despite multiple attempts at peace the standing issues of the conflict could not be resolved.From 2005 onwards the Hamas organisation gained prominence in Palestine. The fighting in recent years occurred due to rocket attacks coming from both side of the Gaza strip .The Standing IssuesJerusalemJerusalem is the most major issue. Both sides claim ownership of the city. As stated previously Jerusalem is of great significance to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam being an important and holy city for all of them. For Judaism in particular Jerusalem is the holiest city in the world. It is the former location of the Jewish temples on theTemple Mountand was the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom. It also contains the Jewish holy site, The Western Wall and the Mount of Olives. Hence the Israelis are unwilling to part with the city. For Islam, Jerusalem is the site ofMohammads Night Journeyto heaven, and theal-Aqsa mosque. For Christians, Jerusalem is the location ofthe Crucifixion of Christand theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre.Presently, Israel considers the complete Jerusalem as part of its sovereign region. Jerusalem also is its capital. No other nation in the world accepts thisHoly sitesBoth sides have concern over the treatment of their holy sit es under the others control. Historically these concerns are founded, as both sides have banned worshippers while they were in control of the region. The treatment and possible vandalism of the sites under fence rule is a concern as well.Proposed SolutionsThe most globally accepted solution is a Two State one. Since the conflict is religious in nature, it proposes splitting the region based on religion. With Palestine being comprised of the West Bank and Gaza Strip while Israel consists of the rest of the region. This would ensure that demographically Israel will have a Jewish majority with a significant Arab minority. While Palestine will have an Arab majority with a small Jewish minority.Jerusalem would serve as the capital of both nations. With the Arab part under the control of Palestine and the Jewish part under the control of Israel.Israel has expressed concerns regarding safety to this plan. As the region has been under multiple terrorist attacks, it believes that having a border so close to Palestine would increase the risk to its citizens.Case Study 2 Islamic TerrorismIslamic terrorism comprises of terrorist acts through by people in the name of IslamIdeologyThe term Jihad features a prominent role in militant Islam. Jihad typographical errorly translates to conflict or resistance. Based on context and writing. This can have multiple interpretations. Peaceful interpretations include struggling to follow the way of God. so far Jihad also has a military sense, it calls for the defence and expansion of the Islamic state. Defensive Jihad is considered an obligation of utmost impressiveness for all Muslims, while expansionist Jihad is optional.The ideology of Islamic terrorists insists that they are initiating a defensive Jihad against the West. Terrorists believe that the Western society and its policies are actively anti Islamic. As such they insist that their actions are in defence of their religion.The terrorists point out what they believe is a continuing war between Christianity and Islam. A war that started from the Crusades. By shut in the fight as defensive, they appear to be a victim rather than an aggressor, and give struggle the very highest religious priority for all good Muslims. numerous of the violent terrorist groups use jihad to fight against Western nations and Israel. Most militant Islamists oppose Israels existence.Another major aspect of terrorist ideology is the belief that Muslims have deviated from true Islam and must return to pure Islam as originally practiced during the time ofMuhammad.Pure Islam can that be reached by applying a literal and strict interpretation of theQuran and Muhammads commands. The original sources should be interpreted individually and Muslims simply should not follow the interpretations of Islamic scholars. Interpretation of the Quran from a historical, contextual perspective is corruption.In addition militants, scholars, and leaders oppose Western society for what they see as immoralsecularism. Terrorists claim that free speech has led to the proliferation ofpornography,immorality,secularism,homosexuality,feminism etcetera ideas and concepts that they oppose.Conflicts due(p) to their ideology, Islamic Terrorism has been in multiple conflicts throughout the world. In addition to this, Islam has had traditional rivalries with many religions. Including Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism etc. further increasing the issue.Some of the various conflict zones areCountryMain religious groups involvedType of conflictAfghanistanExtreme, radical Fundamentalist Muslim terrorist groups non-MuslimsThe traditional base of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. It was liberated by a joint military effort. However the Taliban is rising again and fighting continues.IraqKurds, Shiite Muslims, Sunni Muslims, western armed forcesBy mid-2006, a small scale civil war, chiefly between Shiite and Sunni Muslims started. Presently, the country is in another civil war against the ISILKashmir Hindus MuslimsKashmir has been a contested region since the formation of India and Pakistan.KurdistanChristians, MuslimsPeriodic assaults on Christians occurMiddle EastJews, Muslims, ChristiansIsrael has always been a target of religious conflict. Thus Middle East remains as a volatile zonePakistanSunni Shiite MuslimsMutual attacks, and periodic strikes by Taliban.SomaliaWahhabi and Sufi MuslimsSufi Muslims moderate version of Islam are fighting followers of the Wahhabi tradition of Islam.ThailandBuddhists MuslimsMuslim rebels have been attacking southern Thailand.SolutionsAs such there is no uniform solution for Islamic terrorism. The locations and grievances of each conflict are extremely varied and cannot be uniformly addressed. The terrorists also enjoy support due to the economic and social conditions of these regions. However generic solutions to address parts of this issue exist such asEstablishment of humanitarian centres to help people socially. militarization of religi ous leaders to publicly oppose these actions and remove the militant support base.Case Study 3 The Tibet China ConflictBackgroundThe Tibet China conflict is a historical and geopolitical debate. Both sides claim sovereignty of the Tibetan Plateau. Tibetans insist that they have largely been a historically independent nation, and believe the Chinese occupation to be illegal. While the Chinese claim that Tibet was a part of Chinese administration until it was annexed by the British Raj to act as a cowcatcher between India and China and after the Raj withdrew, the Chinese were able to regain their territory in 1951.The conflict also has an ethnic and religious side. The ethnic aspect comes from the fact that the Tibetans of the Tibetan Plateau are a minority to the Han Chinese majority of China, Secondly most Tibetans are Buddhists, while religion is banned in communist nations like China. The Chinese government has a history of persecuting religions, especially those that have wid espread popularity like Buddhism has in China. Widespread persecution and the exile of the Dalai Lama have only fuelled the clash.Present Day ScenarioTibet did not participate in international organisations like League of Nations in the early 20th Century. As such it is unable to provide sufficient evidence for its sovereignty and independence. China maintains an extremely strict stance and prevents outside intervention.However there have been known cases of genocide against Tibetans and Buddhists in particular. alike development and growth in the region seems to affect and benefit only the Han Chinese immigrants.SolutionsThe most accepted solution seems to be to provide Tibet with more shore leave and freedom while keeping it under Chinese rule. This would ensure an end to religious persecution while also allowing more inclusive development in the region.Scholars also agree that the Dalai Lama must be allowed to return from exile and be an active part of the peace process. The Da lai Lama has a great influence in the Tibetan region and would be able to reassure and appease hardliners.Case Study 4 Role of Christianity in Nazism and the HolocaustDuring his rise to power, Hitler established the political significance of Christianity and Christian Churches. To this effect, the Nazi party started the promotion of Positive Christianity. Positive Christianity differed from Christianity in many ways. Modern day historians agree that despite his claims, Hitler was anti Christianity. He used Positive Christianity to justify his actions and his power.Throughout his rule, Hitler called the Nazi cause as Christian. At the same time, he utilised the historical rivalry and evil between Christians and Jews. To justify this, Positive Christianity openly rejected any Jewish involvement in the Holy Bible. ItRejected the Jewish-written parts of the Bible(including the entire Old Testament)Claimed Christ was Aryan and not JewishOpposed the existence of the Catholic ChurchProm oted national unity, and wanted to put all Protestant Churches under a unmarried national Positive Christian ChurchIt emphasised Christ as a positive preacher and warrior against institutionalized JudaismHitler also used Christianity in his confession for the Holocaust. Claiming he is continuing Christs work by eliminating other races.Religion as a PeacemakerHistorically, religion has been a cause of conflict. However religion can also be the cause of peace. Most religions in the world advocate peace. The use of violence is advised only as a last course in defence. Even the concept of Jihad in Islam is used mainly for defending the Islamist nation.Religion can be used to put across the very cause of conflict itself, as opposed to merely stopping the fighting while the issues remain unaddressed. This is especially true under the following conditions.religion is a significant contributor to the conflictreligious leaders on both sides wish for peaceReligious leaders are of particula r importance in this approach as they are trusted and respected by their communities. This enables them toA leverage against those opposing peaceGenerate local, national and international support for peaceEnsure promises are kept at a local levelEmphasise on the maintenance of morality and humanity in peaceConflicts can be addressed byInterfaith dialogue and interaction to address issuesProposing a solution that can address the religious and ethnic inevitably of both sides as a compliment to diplomatic negotiations e.g. solutions proposed for the Israel Palestine conflictEstablishment of religious peacekeeping centres in strife torn regions like Iraq etc.By this method it is possible to mobilise religion into a peaceful force that can end wars that are not only religious in nature but of other origins as well.ReferencesBeginners Guide to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict (a video available on YouTube) A Brief History of the Arab-Israeli Conflictby Jeremy newswriterBBC News reports on the Israel Palestinian ConflictReligiousTolerance.orgConflict Over Tibet Core Causes and Possible Solutions By Dustin StokesReligion and the Holocaust by Richard E Smith The Holy Reich Nazi Conceptions of Christianity by Richard Steigmann-GallReligious Contributions to Peacemaking When Religion Brings Peace, Not War