Religion in International Relations Theory

3 Religion and Classical Realism

Interactions within power politics

We begin the process of integrating religion into international relations theories with Classical Realism. This chapter, as is the case with the following chapters, begins with a brief discussion of the intellectual history of the theory, emphasizing what role religion played in the development of the paradigm, if any. In the case of Classical Realism, the impact of religion can be traced to the beginnings of the theory’s intellectual history. After discussing the nature of this impact, we then use the categories of potential religious influences on international relations developed in the previous chapter as the basis for discussion of how religion can be reclaimed and integrated ...