Lawrence Rubin on Islam and Ideational Balancing

tonygill — Sun, 11 Dec 2016 09:00:38 +0000

Can the ideas proposed by one nation-state threaten another nation-state? If so, how do the threatened nations respond? We probe these questions with respect to Islam and the two Islamic political revolutions in Iran (1979) and Sudan (1989) with Prof. Lawrence Rubin, an associate professor of political science in Georgia Tech’s Sam Nunn School of International Affairs. Prof. Rubin reminisces about how he came to study the role of ideas in foreign policy, and then reviews the two dominant schools of thought in international relations theory — realism and constructivism. The former perspective focuses on material resources and tangible threats made by various nations in the world order, whereas the latter brings the issue of ideas, ideologies, and (increasingly) theologies into the mix. We explore the idea of “soft power,” and how religious ideas can become potentially threatening to the domestic security of a regime, and what governments can do in response. To illustrate how this has played out in the Middle East over the past four decades, we use the cases of political revolutions in Iran and Sudan and how Saudi Arabia and Egypt responded. Larry explains that despite a noticeable decline the military prowess of Iran following its revolution (and subsequent war with Iraq), the Islamic Republic of Iran presents a new ideational threat to the hegemony of Saudi Arabia, not only on sectarian grounds (Shia versus Sunni), but also on Iran’s ability to inspire religious-based social movements that could undermine the ruling government. This was also of concern to Egypt, which had a more secular-based government but which had been seeking alliances with domestic religious actors throughout the 1970s and ’80s. Prof. Rubin provides a few examples of how Egypt and Saudi Arabia sought to “ideationally counter-balance” this international threat. We also bring up the similar challenge posed by the Sudanese Revolution of 1979, another example of a state that didn’t necessarily pose a significant military threat, but still had the potential of upsetting domestic politics in Egypt and Saudi Arabia with the spread of a radical theological message. We finish off our podcast with some of Larry’s thoughts on the threat of ISIS to the region and what he has learned over time by taking the role of ideas seriously in the field of international relations. Recorded: December 7, 2016.

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War

tonygill — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:00:38 +0000

A week before the 10th anniversay of the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Prof. Monica Duffy Toft of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government joins us to discuss what we have learned about religiously-motivated violence over the past decade. This podcast represents our second discussion on the book God’s Century: Resurgent Religion and Global Politics (co-authored with Daniel Philpott and Timothy Shah), the first being focused on the role of religion in promoting democracy. Our attention here turns to why religious groups and individuals would be prompted to violence. The discussion is far-ranging, looking not only at Islamic terrorism, but includes an examination of the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, Hindu nationalism in India, and the influence of Buddhism on the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Prof. Toft provides definition of terrorism and “informal violence,” the latter which encompasses such “spontaneous” events as ethn0-religious riots. She argues that looking at, and including, informal violence in the analysis of terrorism is crucial for understanding the phenomenon of religiously-motivated violence. Prof. Toft lays out her explanation for the increasing salience of religious violence, focusing both on institutional factors such as how states regulate religious organizations and the importance of political theologies. The confluence of these institutional and ideological factors helps explain why religious terrorism and civil war has increased since the 1970s. Our conversation also considers the recent rampage of Anders Behring Breivik in Norway. We also discuss the role of religion in civil wars such as Sudan, Yugoslavia and other parts of the world. Prof. Toft finishes the interview with her thoughts on whether religious violence is likely to subside in the future. Recorded: August 29, 2011.

Research On Religion » Sudan

Lawrence Rubin on Islam and Ideational Balancing

Monica Toft on Religion, Terrorism, and Civil War