NEW CPD Perspectives, “Essays on Faith Diplomacy”

The latest installment in the CPD Perspectives series, "Essays on Faith Diplomacy" examines faith diplomacy and its importance to public diplomacy efforts. The publication features an analysis of post-secular discourse between Islamic and non-Islamic worlds, a study of the history of the Catholic Church's global diplomacy and much more. This special addition of CPD Perspectives is the Center's initial contribution to the literature on faith diplomacy.

"For decades, prominent scholars promoted a secularization thesis positing that modernity would eventually render religion obsolete, and that scientific discovery and democratic governance would effectively “secularize” society. However, the events of the twenty-first century have discredited the secularization thesis, and religion endures as a powerful marker of identification for individuals, communities, and nation-states. Indeed, in our post-9/11 world, the contentious politics of religious identity play out across disciplines and domains, and profoundly shape foreign policy and international relations. Given the integral role of faith in framing global conflicts, faith diplomacy should be a core component of public diplomacy, and it is therefore critical to develop scholarly and policy based methodologies for understanding and utilizing faith diplomacy.
 

"Essays on Faith Diplomacy" features:

• Matteo Ricci’s Sixteenth Century Mission at the Court of the Ming Dynasty: Lessons from an Ante Litteram Western Public Diplomat in China by Paolo Sigismondi.

• Peace and Dialogue: The Faith Diplomacy of the Catholic Church in Historical Perspective by Lan T. Chu.

• China’s Faith Diplomacy: Initiatives and Vulnerabilities by Juyan Zhang.

• Enriching Post-secular Discourse in Faith Diplomacy by Darrell Ezel.

Read the entire work here.

CPD Perspectives is a periodic publication from the USC Center on Public Diplomacy, and highlights scholarship intended to stimulate critical thinking about the study and practice of public diplomacy.