What They Say and Do: Religious Freedom as a National Security Lens

Patterson, Eric D.

doi:10.1080/15570274.2012.760976

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…40 A related dynamic can be seen in the Middle East today. In this region, one of the most likely fault lines for conflict between states lies between Iran and Saudi Arabia.…”

Section: International Violencementioning

confidence: 97%

The religious freedom peace

Saiya

2015

The International Journal of Human Rights

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Around the world, religion's influence on societies and politics is increasing. Arguably religion is today a more salient feature of international politics than at any point in the last 300 years. Yet this increase in religion's prominence comes at the precise time that religious expression has come under unprecedented assault from both state actions and communal hostilities involving religion. At the same time, religious extremism and violence have also been on the rise globally. This article makes the case that these two trends -repression of religion and resistance on the part of believers -are intertwined. Here, I survey four forms of violence: domestic religious terrorism, international religious terrorism, religious civil wars and interstate conflicts. In each case, I outline different pathways through which restrictions on religion lead to violence, marshal data derived and coded from conflict databases, and present brief case studies showing how states that hinder religious freedom are disproportionately more likely to both experience and give rise to all four forms of violence. On the other hand, religiously free countries are far less susceptible to and do not encourage religious violence. The article concludes with some recommendations for policy.

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“…40 A related dynamic can be seen in the Middle East today. In this region, one of the most likely fault lines for conflict between states lies between Iran and Saudi Arabia.…”

Section: International Violencementioning

confidence: 97%

The religious freedom peace

Saiya

2015

The International Journal of Human Rights

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“…See eLizabetH sHakman HuRd, beyond Eric Patterson argues that understanding religious freedom and its denial around the world would further help US national security by identifying a source of high-level threat. 13 Various current and former foreign policymakers have echoed these arguments. The State Department tied the absence of religious freedom to violence: "Countries that permit religious freedom and encourage open dialogue are less likely to propagate extremism.…”

Section: Economic and Security Interestsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Promoting the Right of Freedom of Religion: Diverse Pathways to Religious Tolerance and Freedom of Religion and the Implications for American Foreign Policy

Rieffer-Flanagan¹

2019

Human Rights Quarterly

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The fundamental right to Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB), codified in Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), is often in the news due to the denial of this right by states and non-state actors. Various politicians lament the fact that individuals around the world are not able to practice and live up to the tenets of their faith due to government persecution or hostility from non-state actors. Given the widespread violation of this basic right, why has US foreign policy had a limited impact globally? Besides perceived national interests trumping this right, the tendency to conflate religious freedom and religious tolerance limits Washington's impact. Religious tolerance is a necessary, but not sufficient condition for FoRB. To establish this difference, this article explores how different societies in different times pursued religious tolerance and later religious freedom. A greater understanding of the diverse motivations and pathways from persecution to religious tolerance, and in a more limited number of cases FoRB, is essential if Washington-or InterGovernmental Organizations (IGO) and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO)-wants to develop meaningful policies to improve the realization of this human right.

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