The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding

The British Academy's latest international policy report explores how the role of religion in conflict and peacebuilding has all too often been depicted in binary terms, which have obscured the complexity of the subject.

The report argues that religion is never a static or isolated entity but should rather be understood as a fluid system of variables, contingent upon a large number of contextual and historical factors. By observing how religion operates and interacts with other aspects of the human experience at the global, institutional, group and individual levels, this report aims to gain a more nuanced understanding of its role (or potential role) in both conflict and peacebuilding.

The report has been authored by Dr Sara Silvestri, Senior Lecturer in International Politics at City University London and Affiliated Lecturer at the University of Cambridge, where she also leads the Faith, Ethics and Public Policy programme at the Von Hügel Institute; and Professor James Mayall FBA, Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the University of Cambridge and fellow of Sidney Sussex College. The report was commissioned and funded by the Department for International Development.