The Prospect of Processing a Religious Theory in International Relations

Document Type : Science - Research

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of International Relations Group, Faculty of Political Science & Islamic Studies, Imam Sadiq University, Tehan, IRAN.

2 Professor of International Relations at Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran,IRAN.

Abstract

Today, the debate over whether religion and religious actors can be influential in various political levels seems to be over and unnecessary. Rather, the discussions of experts are now focused on the question of how religion should be treated and interpreted. Is religion in international relations an object that can be examined and explained by various IR theories, or can religion itself act as a subject and provide an independent perspective and worldview in the form of a scientific theory for understanding and interpreting the world?

In response to this question, there are two views among experts that will be discussed in this article. Some believe that it is possible to address religion in the form of existing IR theories, and others argue for the need to process independent theories by emphasizing the inadequacy of existing theories when referring to religion. While accepting the second view, this paper proposes that in the current state of IR discipline and given the inherent failure of existing theories of this knowledge to understand and interpret the behavior of religious actors caused by fundamental meta-theoretical differences, it is completely possible to develop a religious theory that can provide researchers with an independent perspective and worldview. This hypothesis, if proven, would underpin the formation of the religious theory of International Relations.

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References

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Contemporary Researches on Islamic Revolution
Volume 5, Issue 15
March 2023
Pages 63-85

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