Peter Mandaville
George Mason University

Around the world today we see a trend whereby great powers—and those aspiring to that status—integrate religion and religious outreach activities into their foreign policy and external relations. Manifestations of this trend vary widely, from informal efforts to cultivate solidarity with global co-religionists by states whose history and identity are entangled with religion, to more direct deployment of religious institutions and actors in the service of specific foreign policy and national security objectives. This talk will provide a broad overview of this “new geopolitics of faith,” drawing on recent examples from U.S., Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Saudi, and Emirati foreign policy. Through a global comparison of varying motivations, strategies, and practices associated with the deployment of what might be termed “religious soft power,” the presentation will reveal patterns, trends, and outcomes that will enhance our understanding of religion’s role in contemporary geopolitics.