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SECURITY AND “RELIGIOUS CONFLICT”
The traditional U.S. reticence notwithstanding, the country is now a mature hegemonic
power and faced with a world that seems increasingly plagued with religious conflict.
Religion has emerged, or re-emerged, as a central causal factor in war. It is therefore
important to “take the risk” in a self-conscious and systematic manner. The foreign policy
and faith communities have no alternative but to think these things through carefully (separately
and together). Religious beliefs and behaviors must be seen in their social, economic,
and political context before making premature or spurious judgments. If faith
leaders and security professionals intent to contribute meaningfully to a positive nexus
between religion and security, they must first understand the ways in which many contemporary
global conflicts are — and are not — religious.
It is apparent that religion plays a critical role in human security, both in preventing
and provoking various forms of conflict — from convention state-state warfare to unconventional
forms of political violence carried out by individuals or groups. It is generally
acknowledged that: 500
■ Religion is present in all conflict — as it concerns life and death — just war and justice
in war
■ Religious conflicts tend to have higher levels of intensity, severity, brutality, and
lethality than other forms of war
■ Wars are longer in duration when religion is a major factor
■ Over half of all contemporary conflicts have a significant religious dimension
■ Religious leaders emerge as primary authority figures under conditions of state
failure
■ Religious factors are invariably related to ethnic group identity, language, territory,
politics, and economics
■ Religious factors are an essential component of effective conflict management and
resolution
Currently, religious factors play a role in conflicts on all continents and between all
major religions. 501 The Hindu and Muslim strains are apparent in Gujurat. The Shia-Sunni
divisions continue to factor in the Iraq conflict. The Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda
pits Christians against Christians. In Sudan, the Muslims are said to repress and enslave
Christians and animists. In Nigeria, the many ethnic groups have gradually polarized and
re-defined the ethnic-tribal conflict as basically religious. The Aum Shinrikyo in Japan,
associated with Buddhism, was responsible for the use of chemical weapons in a terrorist
500 These statements represent the author’s conclusions and are drawn from a number of different research
agendas that include religious, military, historical, and political sources.
501 There is a paucity of good research data and analysis possibly because scholars tend not to agree on how
to define and tabulate statistics on (a) when religion is the primary factor, and/ or (2) when religion plays a role
in the escalation and maintenance of conflict. Current research tends to be politically or religiously motivated,
thus inherently biased.
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