Faith-based Diplomacy: Conservative Evangelicals and the United States Military

Religion is becoming an increasingly important factor for theorists and policy makers alike in the consideration of United States foreign policy. In recent years a new school of faith-based diplomacy advocacy has emerged and begun to resonate with foreign policy practitioners. This article examines...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Marsden, Lee (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Cambridge Univ. Press [2014]
In: Politics and religion
Year: 2014, Volume: 7, Issue: 3, Pages: 475-498
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:Religion is becoming an increasingly important factor for theorists and policy makers alike in the consideration of United States foreign policy. In recent years a new school of faith-based diplomacy advocacy has emerged and begun to resonate with foreign policy practitioners. This article examines the efficacy of such faith-based approaches to foreign policy problems with a religious component and argues that such an approach is inherently flawed. The article argues that a combination of a distinct military culture, which feels itself morally superior to its civilian leadership and the activism of conservative evangelicals in the chaplaincy and military leadership makes such faith-based approaches unrealistic. While acknowledging a role for pluralist religious actors in foreign policy the article rejects a faith-based advocacy approach which can exacerbate rather than resolve foreign policy problems.
ISSN:1755-0491
Contains:Enthalten in: Politics and religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1017/S1755048313000497