Scriptures, Shrines, Scapegoats, and World Politics by Zeev Maoz Errol A. Henderson

Author:Zeev Maoz, Errol A. Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Published: 2020-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

←229 | 230→ The study of religion and international cooperation is a relatively new topic. In contrast to the multitude of studies on the role of religion in international conflict, the study of religion and cooperation is not well developed. Thus, the theoretical foundations of these linkages are rather weak, and empirical research is almost nonexistent. To a large extent, this chapter represents an initial foray into uncharted waters. As such, the present chapter provides a number of important contributions to our understanding of the role of religion in world politics.

It offers a set of theoretical ideas—derived from the various perspectives we discussed in chapter 2—about the role that religion might play in fostering international cooperation.

These ideas center on the presence or absence of linkages between religious factors and different forms of cooperative ventures among states. We put forth a nuanced theory of religion and international cooperation whose central point is that religion may play an important role in fostering some forms of cooperation but not others. A key objective of the theory is explaining which particular areas of cooperation are influenced by religious factors and which are not.

In keeping with the practice of previous chapters, we study the linkages between religion and cooperation at multiple levels of analysis. In contrast to other chapters, however, we highlight a new unit of analysis—endogenous cooperative communities (ECCs). Such communities emerge as dense clusters of cooperative states. Members in any one ECC tend to cooperate with each other much more often and more intensely than with members of other ECCs. Consequently, the level of cooperation within ECCs is much higher than between ECCs (Maoz 2017). We offer the first analysis of the role that religion plays in the emergence and persistence of ECCs.

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