Religion and Peacemaking

• Online Course on Interfaith Dialogue and Religious Peacemaking
  This introductory course provides an overview of how to design and conduct interfaith dialogue and religious peacemaking programs.
  


• Religious Contributions to Peacemaking: When Religion Brings Peace, Not War
  This important publication provides a series of lessons and corresponding guidelines on effective religious peacemaking. It builds on a number of case studies and essays from directors of projects conducted in Nigeria, Iraq, Kashmir, Iraq/Palestine, Sudan, and Macedonia.


• Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding
  This book explores the formidable potential of interfaith dialogue. The contributors draw on their extensive experience in the Middle East, Africa, Southeast Asia, Northern Ireland, and the Balkans. The conclusion includes a checklist for effective interfaith dialogue.


• Interfaith Dialogue Checklist
  This checklist, based upon USIP's book Interfaith Dialogue and Peacebuilding, is a short user-friendly guide to designing and conducting interfaith dialogues.
  


• Conversations Among the Abrahamic Faiths Related to Conflict and Nonviolence
  USIP periodically brings together Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians and activists to explore theological perspectives on global conflict (including discussion of the just war doctrine), and to debate the role of nonviolence in peacemaking and conflict resolution. Two important books have resulted.
  • Religious Perspectives on War: Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Attitudes Toward Force
  • Perspectives on Pacifism: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Views on Nonviolence and International Conflict.
  Both books yield rare insight into the complexities of modern religious thought on justice and peace, and reveal a surprising degree of common ground in the basic ethical teachings of the Abrahamic religious traditions toward war.
  
  A recent Special Report presents a more recent scholarly exchange about what these religious traditions can contribute to just peacemaking paradigms:
  • Abrahamic Alternatives to War
• Teaching about the Religious Other
  Religious conflict is often exacerbated by the prevalence of negative stereotypes and lack of understanding about the religious "other." This Special Report explores effective ways to teach about other religious traditions in a manner that promotes plurality, respect, and deep understanding of the beliefs, practices, rituals, and values of traditions that are not one's own.


• Special Report Series: Islamic Teachings, Peacemaking, and Justice
  These four Special Reports focus on Islamic teachings and institutional foundations for building peace and democracy. The reports reveal the vibrant debates taking place within Muslim communities worldwide that draw upon classic Islamic principles to address current political/social situations. The analysis also draws attention to resources within Islam that correlate to international standards and practices of justice, peace, and democracy.
• Applying Islamic Principles in the Twenty-first Century: Nigeria, Iran, and Indonesia.
• Islamic Perspectives on Peace and Violence
• Islam and Democracy
• Ijtihad: Reinterpreting Islamic Principles for the Twenty-first Century


• DVD: The Imam and the Pastor
  This documentary, produced by IFT Films, with USIP support, follows the story of Pastor James Wuye and Imam Mohammad Ashafa of Nigeria. Pastor James and Imam Ashafa are former members of competing militias in Nigeria who experienced personal transformations through their friendship and now work cooperatively to head the Inter-Faith Mediation Centre, supported by USIP. This documentary captures Pastor James and Imam Ashafa at work building relationships between Muslim and Christian clergy and leading training in conflict prevention, mediation, and reconciliation. To order the film, visit the IFT Film website: http://www.fltfilms.org.uk


• Curricular Material for Madrassas
  These materials provide contemporary interpretations of Islamic texts on peace, violence, interfaith relations, human rights, the status of women, and the environment. The program has been piloted in Aceh, Indonesia, where the ulama have embraced them. The materials are currently being translated into English and Arabic for further dissemination.
  


• Special Report Series: The Role of Faith-Based NGOs in Peacemaking
  Faith-based institutions have long been active in peacebuilding and development in conflict settings. These two Special Reports analyze the specific successes, impact, methodology, and leverage that faith-based organizations can have in building peace, all shaped in part by the religiously-motivated character of their work.
• Faith-Based NGOs and International Peacebuilding
• Can Faith-Based NGOs Advance Interfaith Reconciliation? The Case of Bosnia and Herzegovina


• DVD: Precarious Peace: God and Guatemala
  Called "a masterpiece of documentary filmmaking" by Image: Journal of Religion and the Arts, the documentary and accompanying study guide, analyze the role of churches in the Guatemalan peace process that led to the 1996 Peace Accords.


• Muslims in the United States: Views as Americans
  This important report describes the diverse ways Muslims in the United States understand their roles as Americans in combating terrorism, as well as their unique contributions toward conflict prevention and peacemaking.


• Chaplains in the Military
  Traditionally, military chaplains duties have been restricted to addressing the pastoral needs of soldiers. Increasingly, the duties of chaplains have begun to extend beyond this duty. These two Peaceworks reports explore how military chaplains have begun to engage with NGOs, International Organizations, local religious clergy, and other local and foreign actors on the ground in conflict zones.
• Chaplains as Liaisons with Religious Leaders: Lessons from Iraq and Afghanistan
• The Chaplain's Evolving Role in Peace and Humanitarian Relief Operations


• Unity in Diversity: Interfaith Dialogue in the Middle East
  This book explores the role of interfaith dialogue in the polarized climate of the Middle East by focusing on four different settings: Israel/Palestine, Lebanon, Egypt, and Jordan. The analysis demonstrates the value of interfaith dialogue and the extent to which religious communities are successfully connecting with each other.


• Healing the Holy Land: Interreligious Peacebuilding in Israel/Palestine
  This publication documents faith-based efforts by Muslim, Jewish, and Christians to achieve a just peace in the Arab/Israeli conflict. The publication argues forcefully that religious leaders and interests much be engaged in the peace process in order to assure a sustainable, inclusive, and comprehensive settlement. The report includes the perspectives of clergy, lay, facilitators of inter-faith dialogue, religious educators, and participants in the historic Alexandria Summit in January 2002, which convened high-level clergy to voice a religious commitment to and strategy for achieving peace in the region.


• An Anti-Hate Manual
  This manual promotes religious tolerance in Palestinian schools and the larger Palestinian community. Five thousand copies have been distributed to every school in the West Bank and many in Gaza.
  This project is under development.
• Additional Resources
  The Institute has been instrumental in helping seed the peacebuilding field, both intellectually and institutionally. Over the course of its relatively short history, USIP has produced over 400 field-defining publications on conflict management. Click here for access to our full inventory of publications. USIP also has an extensive library. Click here to search our print and digital collections of books, periodicals, audio-visual materials, digital files (documents, audio, and video presentations), and more.


• Training & Education Resources
  The tools described above are valuable assets, but the most important peacebuilding assets are the individuals who engage in it. International peacebuilding (aka, international conflict management) is a relatively new area of systematic study and USIP is making a significant investment in developing relevant materials and courses. Click here to learn more about our Education and Training Center and to access useful materials for the classroom.

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