On the Significance of Religion for Global Diplomacy

"More often seen as a source of conflict, religion is generally overlooked as a potential resource in promoting global diplomacy. The 2019 Abu Dhabi document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Immam pointed towards a new international dialogue on the values that bind us and the common human desire for peace. This fascinating book plunges deep into that dialogue and gives us hope for a future where the engagement between religions, global politics and human rights can push us into a new and more reassuring era."

— Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland

"In this moment of fractured politics and dissolving ethics, renewed attention to religion as a source of unity is a bold and much-needed initiative. The tradition is long and the ideas are inspiring. This volume provides a practical guide to creating a new dialogue suited to the distinct challenges of the 21st century."

— Joel H. Rosenthal, President, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs

"I warmly recommend this original book to all those interested in the values underpinning multilateral diplomacy. Today’s challenges are set out clearly – epochal changes in the natural world, the virtual world, and in politics. The authors put forward ‘axioms of the historical imagination’ with a view to an inclusive, values-led, fit-for-purpose global diplomacy over the coming decades.At a practical level, they propose guidelines for innovative processes under UN auspices – long-term, regional, and multi-layered. They argue persuasively that well-judged forms of engagement between public authorities and religion (and other ‘life stances’) can contribute meaningfully to sustainable development and to the changes in habits, assumptions, and actions that are urgently needed at a global level."

— Michael Møller, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.

"Finally! Diplomats call other diplomats to take religious and cultural values seriously as irreplaceable subjects of foreign policy planning and peacekeeping doctrine. In this compelling and urgently needed book, distinguished ambassadors and peacebuilders argue that the international community has lost its consensus on the values and beliefs that would enable it to respond effectively to today’s unprecedented challenges to human civilization. What gives me greatest hope are the authors’ practical recommendations: detailed analyses of how agencies like the UN, OSCE, and EU can expand institutional doctrines and strategic plans in service to a multi-civilizational vision of human values. Here is reason to hope that there is still time...."

— Peter Ochs, Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia, USA.

"More often seen as a source of conflict, religion is generally overlooked as a potential resource in promoting global diplomacy. The 2019 Abu Dhabi document on Human Fraternity signed by Pope Francis and the Grand Immam pointed towards a new international dialogue on the values that bind us and the common human desire for peace. This fascinating book plunges deep into that dialogue and gives us hope for a future where the engagement between religions, global politics and human rights can push us into a new and more reassuring era."

— Mary McAleese, Former President of Ireland

"In this moment of fractured politics and dissolving ethics, renewed attention to religion as a source of unity is a bold and much-needed initiative. The tradition is long and the ideas are inspiring. This volume provides a practical guide to creating a new dialogue suited to the distinct challenges of the 21st century."

— Joel H. Rosenthal, President, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs

"I warmly recommend this original book to all those interested in the values underpinning multilateral diplomacy. Today’s challenges are set out clearly – epochal changes in the natural world, the virtual world, and in politics. The authors put forward ‘axioms of the historical imagination’ with a view to an inclusive, values-led, fit-for-purpose global diplomacy over the coming decades.At a practical level, they propose guidelines for innovative processes under UN auspices – long-term, regional, and multi-layered. They argue persuasively that well-judged forms of engagement between public authorities and religion (and other ‘life stances’) can contribute meaningfully to sustainable development and to the changes in habits, assumptions, and actions that are urgently needed at a global level."

— Michael Møller, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

"Finally! Diplomats call other diplomats to take religious and cultural values seriously as irreplaceable subjects of foreign policy planning and peacekeeping doctrine. In this compelling and urgently needed book, distinguished ambassadors and peacebuilders argue that the international community has lost its consensus on the values and beliefs that would enable it to respond effectively to today’s unprecedented challenges to human civilization. What gives me greatest hope are the authors’ practical recommendations: detailed analyses of how agencies like the UN, OSCE, and EU can expand institutional doctrines and strategic plans in service to a multi-civilizational vision of human values. Here is reason to hope that there is still time...."

— Peter Ochs, Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia, USA.

"On the Significance of Religion, though a relatively short book, is an inspirational, imaginative and sophisticated work drawing upon history from classical times and upon what may be learned from the wisdom of the world’s religions, as well as from an interdisciplinary literature, to shape its central thesis ‑ that new forms of historical and religious literacy, allied to new frameworks of engagement, can enable a more creative global diplomacy."

— Fergus O’Ferrall, Dublin Review of Books.