The Duck of Minerva

Support the Establishment of a New ISA Section: Religion and IR

by Dan Nexon

24 April 2012, 2131 EDT

Ron Hassner has long discussed forming an ISA section on Religion and IR. After attending the last ISA, talking to more people with work that touches on the subject, and seeing the continuing increase in papers that address religion and world politics, Ron is moving forward. If (and only if) you are an ISA member, please take a moment to sign the petition. We need a hundred qualified signatures.

Daniel H. Nexon is a Professor at Georgetown University, with a joint appointment in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service. His academic work focuses on international-relations theory, power politics, empires and hegemony, and international order. He has also written on the relationship between popular culture and world politics.

He has held fellowships at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Ohio State University's Mershon Center for International Studies. During 2009-2010 he worked in the U.S. Department of Defense as a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow. He was the lead editor of International Studies Quarterly from 2014-2018.

He is the author of The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe: Religious Conflict, Dynastic Empires, and International Change (Princeton University Press, 2009), which won the International Security Studies Section (ISSS) Best Book Award for 2010, and co-author of Exit from Hegemony: The Unraveling of the American Global Order (Oxford University Press, 2020). His articles have appeared in a lot of places. He is the founder of the The Duck of Minerva, and also blogs at Lawyers, Guns and Money.

6 Comments

  1. Ron
    Ron on 25 April 2012 at 04.01 EDT

    Thanks Dan!  Here are the data, as best I can tell:  In 2010, I counted 134 papers.  In 2011, I
    found 137.  At this year’s meeting, about 145 papers touched on religion, faith, secularism and belief worldwide.  This is
    a rough estimate (there is no easy way to identify these papers so I searched
    on-line programs using several religion keywords) but it
    indicates a widespread interest. 

    Since starting this initiative, the entire board of APSA religion and politics section has signed on, as have various programs on religion and IR (Notre Dame, Berkeley, USC).  We should be good to go within a couple of days but any and all signatures help, so please spread the news.

  2. Charli Carpenter
    Charli Carpenter on 25 April 2012 at 13.02 EDT

    I will consider supporting this but only if the section mission statement includes reference to fictional religions as well… :)

    • Vikash Yadav
      Vikash Yadav on 25 April 2012 at 20.55 EDT

      All religions are works of fiction. If they were not, they would not be interesting.

      • Chris Marcoux
        Chris Marcoux on 25 April 2012 at 21.57 EDT

         I thought they were social facts? So . . . fictional social facts, then? :)

  3. political pipeline
    political pipeline on 25 April 2012 at 15.09 EDT

    I study political languages in America. “Biblical thought” is a American political language (Abbott 2010). Even though I focus on the language of republicanism, this section is a no brainer. Political languages impact politics. Political scientists should account for them-and we need more professional forums for these discussions.