Religious Resurgence and Diplomacy
UENO Kagefumi / Former Japanese Ambassador to the Holy See
February 14, 2011
Many readers will readily recall that a few years ago, a Danish newspaper carried a satirical cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed, provoking a backlash from Islamic countries. In Western Europe where religion has declined in significance along with secularization, the public voiced their concerns about freedom of expression, but without truly understanding the reason behind Muslim anger.
In Japan as well as in Western Europe, they have accepted the premise that "modernization leads to secularization," and feel little sympathy with sentiments such as fighting and dying for religious values. At the Holy See, where I spent four years as Ambassador until last fall, the Pope continuously laments that, in Western Europe, the life and family ethics is being marginalized through secularization.
Yet, when we cast our eyes across the world, we find that secular Western Europe and Japan are in fact in the minority, and that religion today wields greater influence over the international community. "Religious resurgence" is underway in the Islamic world and in Africa, North and South America and South Asia. Specifically, countries such as Turkey and Egypt are returning to Islamic traditions, the number of Christians has jumped in Africa, religious conservatives are becoming prominent in the United States, and the Orthodox Churches are regaining influence in Russia and East Europe.
At the same time, inter-religious and inter-denominational conflicts have increased over the past years. In countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and India, religious extremists are engaged in an endless wave of terrorism. In the United States and Western Europe, there is growing friction over the construction of mosques and veils worn by Islamic women.
Are foreign policy specialists in secular developed countries giving due consideration to this changing current in the world? In analyzing international trends, they seem far less attentive to religious factors compared with political, economic and ethnic factors. Religion is rarely mentioned in important international documents, and there has been little regard paid to the merits of religion in sustaining peace-building efforts and facilitating rehabilitation and reconstruction in post-conflict processes.
Now, some scholars and foreign policy makers have begun to face up to the tide of religious resurgence and, by reversing their past stance, pay more attention to religious issues.
Madeleine Albright, who served as U.S. Secretary of State in the Clinton administration, has pointed out that U.S. diplomacy was harmed by underestimation of religious factors during the Khomeini Revolution in Iran. Of late, it is being said that it is impossible to foresee a conflict without paying close attention to religious issues.
Some countries have begun to reinforce their system for analyzing religious issues. Iran established a religious issues division within its foreign ministry nearly 20 years ago. The division has since conducted a systematic and comprehensive review of religious issues around the world. In Western Europe, a specialized foreign ministry division was recently established in Germany, and France followed suit. It is particularly noteworthy that a pole religion, the division specializing in religion, was set up in France who adheres to the principle of the laïcité, drawing a sharp line between the domains of politics-diplomacy and religion.
Furthermore, Mr. Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, gave a lecture in the last autumn in which he stated," religion matters in the world and if foreign policy is to be effective it too must address religion as an issue," hinting at the possibility that the United Kingdom is also moving to organize its system. The United States has already established an Office of International Religious Freedom within the Department of State, which monitors the state of religious freedom in each country.
In light of the tide of religious resurgence, paying close attention to global trends in religion is vital to reinforcing diplomatic power. I hope Japan too will develop a system geared to grasping religious trends in a more organized and systematic manner.
The writer is an civilizational essayist. The article originally appeared in the "Ronten (Viewpoint) Column" of the Yomiuri Newspaper on January 25, 2011.
In Japan as well as in Western Europe, they have accepted the premise that "modernization leads to secularization," and feel little sympathy with sentiments such as fighting and dying for religious values. At the Holy See, where I spent four years as Ambassador until last fall, the Pope continuously laments that, in Western Europe, the life and family ethics is being marginalized through secularization.
Yet, when we cast our eyes across the world, we find that secular Western Europe and Japan are in fact in the minority, and that religion today wields greater influence over the international community. "Religious resurgence" is underway in the Islamic world and in Africa, North and South America and South Asia. Specifically, countries such as Turkey and Egypt are returning to Islamic traditions, the number of Christians has jumped in Africa, religious conservatives are becoming prominent in the United States, and the Orthodox Churches are regaining influence in Russia and East Europe.
At the same time, inter-religious and inter-denominational conflicts have increased over the past years. In countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and India, religious extremists are engaged in an endless wave of terrorism. In the United States and Western Europe, there is growing friction over the construction of mosques and veils worn by Islamic women.
Are foreign policy specialists in secular developed countries giving due consideration to this changing current in the world? In analyzing international trends, they seem far less attentive to religious factors compared with political, economic and ethnic factors. Religion is rarely mentioned in important international documents, and there has been little regard paid to the merits of religion in sustaining peace-building efforts and facilitating rehabilitation and reconstruction in post-conflict processes.
Now, some scholars and foreign policy makers have begun to face up to the tide of religious resurgence and, by reversing their past stance, pay more attention to religious issues.
Madeleine Albright, who served as U.S. Secretary of State in the Clinton administration, has pointed out that U.S. diplomacy was harmed by underestimation of religious factors during the Khomeini Revolution in Iran. Of late, it is being said that it is impossible to foresee a conflict without paying close attention to religious issues.
Some countries have begun to reinforce their system for analyzing religious issues. Iran established a religious issues division within its foreign ministry nearly 20 years ago. The division has since conducted a systematic and comprehensive review of religious issues around the world. In Western Europe, a specialized foreign ministry division was recently established in Germany, and France followed suit. It is particularly noteworthy that a pole religion, the division specializing in religion, was set up in France who adheres to the principle of the laïcité, drawing a sharp line between the domains of politics-diplomacy and religion.
Furthermore, Mr. Francis Campbell, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, gave a lecture in the last autumn in which he stated," religion matters in the world and if foreign policy is to be effective it too must address religion as an issue," hinting at the possibility that the United Kingdom is also moving to organize its system. The United States has already established an Office of International Religious Freedom within the Department of State, which monitors the state of religious freedom in each country.
In light of the tide of religious resurgence, paying close attention to global trends in religion is vital to reinforcing diplomatic power. I hope Japan too will develop a system geared to grasping religious trends in a more organized and systematic manner.
The writer is an civilizational essayist. The article originally appeared in the "Ronten (Viewpoint) Column" of the Yomiuri Newspaper on January 25, 2011.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
宗教の復権と外交
上野景文 / 前駐バチカン大使
2011年 2月 14日
数年前デンマークの新聞が預言者ムハンマドを風刺する漫画を掲載して、イスラム諸国の大反発を招いたことは記憶に新しい。宗教離れ・世俗化の進んだ西欧の人々は、表現の自由へのこだわりこそ示したが、なぜイスラム教徒が激しく怒ったのかは十分理解出来なかったようだ。
わが国や西欧では、「近代化は世俗化をもたらす」との前提が受け入れられており、宗教的価値のために戦い、命を懸けるといった心情への共感は低い。私は昨年秋まで大使として4年間バチカンにいたが、ローマ法王は、西欧において生命・家族倫理や宗教心が希薄化したことを嘆き続けている。
ところが、世界全体を見渡せば、西欧や日本は少数派であり、国際社会における宗教の影響力はむしろ強まっている。イスラム圏からアフリカ、南北米大陸、東欧、南アジアに至るまで、押しなべて「宗教復権」が進行中だ。すなわち、トルコやエジプトなどではイスラムの伝統への回帰が見られ、アフリカではキリスト教徒人口が著しく増え、米国では宗教保守派が存在感を示し、ロシアや東欧では正教会の復権が進んでいる。
並行して、近年、宗教間・宗派間の軋轢が増している。アフガニスタン、イラク、パキスタン、インドなどでは、宗教的な過激派によるテロが後を絶たない。米国や西欧では、モスク建設或いはイスラム系女性の頭巾を巡り摩擦が高じている。
世俗化が進んだ先進国の外交政策立案者は、こうした世界の潮流変化を十分に斟酌しているのだろうか。国際社会の動向分析にあたり、政治的、経済的、民族的要素には着目するが、宗教的要素には十分注意を払ってきていないようだ。重要な国際会議文書が宗教に言及することはまれだし、平和構築を支え、紛争終結後の復旧・復興を容易にするという宗教の持つメリットは等閑視されて来ている。
が、宗教復権の流れを直視して、「これまでの姿勢を転換し、宗教事情に十分注意を払うべきだ」との反省が、学者や外交関係者の間に出てきている。
クリントン政権で米国の国務長官を務めたオルブライト女史は、イランのホメイニ革命を念頭に、宗教事情に注意を払わない姿勢が米国の外交に実害を与えたと指摘する。宗教事情を注視しないと、紛争の発生は予見できないとの発言も聞かれるようになった。
宗教事情分析体制の強化に着手した国もある。イランは20年近く前に、外務省に宗教問題課を設置。以来世界の宗教事情を体系的に総覧している。西欧でも、ドイツ、次いでフランス外務省が近年専門部署を設置した。特に、政治・外交の領域と宗教の領域を峻別するフランスで、宗教に特化した部署が設置されたことは注目される。
また、最近英国のキャンベル駐バチカン大使が「宗教的要素への着目抜きに有効な外交戦略は立て難い」と講演して、同国が体制整備を図る可能性を示唆した。米国では、国務省に宗教自由局が設置され、各国における宗教自由の実情を観察している。
宗教復権の流れを踏まえるなら、世界の宗教の動向を注視することは外交力強化を図る上で不可欠だ。わが国でも、より組織的・体系的に宗教の動向を把握する方向で、組織の整備が図られることが期待される。
（筆者は文明論考家。本稿は、２０１１年１月２５日付読売新聞『論点』欄に掲載された。）
わが国や西欧では、「近代化は世俗化をもたらす」との前提が受け入れられており、宗教的価値のために戦い、命を懸けるといった心情への共感は低い。私は昨年秋まで大使として4年間バチカンにいたが、ローマ法王は、西欧において生命・家族倫理や宗教心が希薄化したことを嘆き続けている。
ところが、世界全体を見渡せば、西欧や日本は少数派であり、国際社会における宗教の影響力はむしろ強まっている。イスラム圏からアフリカ、南北米大陸、東欧、南アジアに至るまで、押しなべて「宗教復権」が進行中だ。すなわち、トルコやエジプトなどではイスラムの伝統への回帰が見られ、アフリカではキリスト教徒人口が著しく増え、米国では宗教保守派が存在感を示し、ロシアや東欧では正教会の復権が進んでいる。
並行して、近年、宗教間・宗派間の軋轢が増している。アフガニスタン、イラク、パキスタン、インドなどでは、宗教的な過激派によるテロが後を絶たない。米国や西欧では、モスク建設或いはイスラム系女性の頭巾を巡り摩擦が高じている。
世俗化が進んだ先進国の外交政策立案者は、こうした世界の潮流変化を十分に斟酌しているのだろうか。国際社会の動向分析にあたり、政治的、経済的、民族的要素には着目するが、宗教的要素には十分注意を払ってきていないようだ。重要な国際会議文書が宗教に言及することはまれだし、平和構築を支え、紛争終結後の復旧・復興を容易にするという宗教の持つメリットは等閑視されて来ている。
が、宗教復権の流れを直視して、「これまでの姿勢を転換し、宗教事情に十分注意を払うべきだ」との反省が、学者や外交関係者の間に出てきている。
クリントン政権で米国の国務長官を務めたオルブライト女史は、イランのホメイニ革命を念頭に、宗教事情に注意を払わない姿勢が米国の外交に実害を与えたと指摘する。宗教事情を注視しないと、紛争の発生は予見できないとの発言も聞かれるようになった。
宗教事情分析体制の強化に着手した国もある。イランは20年近く前に、外務省に宗教問題課を設置。以来世界の宗教事情を体系的に総覧している。西欧でも、ドイツ、次いでフランス外務省が近年専門部署を設置した。特に、政治・外交の領域と宗教の領域を峻別するフランスで、宗教に特化した部署が設置されたことは注目される。
また、最近英国のキャンベル駐バチカン大使が「宗教的要素への着目抜きに有効な外交戦略は立て難い」と講演して、同国が体制整備を図る可能性を示唆した。米国では、国務省に宗教自由局が設置され、各国における宗教自由の実情を観察している。
宗教復権の流れを踏まえるなら、世界の宗教の動向を注視することは外交力強化を図る上で不可欠だ。わが国でも、より組織的・体系的に宗教の動向を把握する方向で、組織の整備が図られることが期待される。
（筆者は文明論考家。本稿は、２０１１年１月２５日付読売新聞『論点』欄に掲載された。）
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟