Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review

Over the last twenty years, policymakers and practitioners have supported the growth of multiple interreligious initiatives aimed at peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and scholars have sought to understand and evaluate their efficiency. This article introduces and reviews the emerging scholarsh...

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Main Author: Michael Daniel Driessen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/2/150
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author Michael Daniel Driessen
author_facet Michael Daniel Driessen
author_sort Michael Daniel Driessen
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description Over the last twenty years, policymakers and practitioners have supported the growth of multiple interreligious initiatives aimed at peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and scholars have sought to understand and evaluate their efficiency. This article introduces and reviews the emerging scholarship which has developed to understand and analyze these efforts. It begins by drawing from recent empirical research to outline how scholars understand religion as being linked to conflicts and naming a number of initiatives that have been constructed as responses to them. The article then considers how interreligious dialogue could be understood to serve as a conduit for conflict mediation and peacebuilding. Finally, the paper discusses several persistent criticisms that have been raised about interreligious dialogue as a model of conflict resolution, especially in light of the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and ends with some reflections about contemporary strategies for interreligious peacebuilding in light of them.
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spelling doaj-art-5e085166fabf4e03b75fcb6fed96547c2025-08-20T02:03:42ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442025-01-0116215010.3390/rel16020150Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A ReviewMichael Daniel Driessen0Department of Political Science and International Affairs, John Cabot University, 00152 Rome, ItalyOver the last twenty years, policymakers and practitioners have supported the growth of multiple interreligious initiatives aimed at peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and scholars have sought to understand and evaluate their efficiency. This article introduces and reviews the emerging scholarship which has developed to understand and analyze these efforts. It begins by drawing from recent empirical research to outline how scholars understand religion as being linked to conflicts and naming a number of initiatives that have been constructed as responses to them. The article then considers how interreligious dialogue could be understood to serve as a conduit for conflict mediation and peacebuilding. Finally, the paper discusses several persistent criticisms that have been raised about interreligious dialogue as a model of conflict resolution, especially in light of the ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and ends with some reflections about contemporary strategies for interreligious peacebuilding in light of them.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/2/150interreligious engagementconflict resolutionpeacebuildingreligious violencepost-conflict reconstructionPope Francis
spellingShingle Michael Daniel Driessen
Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
Religions
interreligious engagement
conflict resolution
peacebuilding
religious violence
post-conflict reconstruction
Pope Francis
title Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
title_full Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
title_fullStr Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
title_full_unstemmed Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
title_short Interreligious Dialogue, Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: A Review
title_sort interreligious dialogue conflict resolution and peacebuilding a review
topic interreligious engagement
conflict resolution
peacebuilding
religious violence
post-conflict reconstruction
Pope Francis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/16/2/150
work_keys_str_mv AT michaeldanieldriessen interreligiousdialogueconflictresolutionandpeacebuildingareview