Dominant analyses examining the utilisation of religion as a tool of statecraft in the Middle East remain overwhelmingly fixated on how Islam influences the foreign policies of different state actors – not how political considerations often influence the forms Islam assumes and how religion itself is often molded according to strategic considerations of political elites.

Instead of religion influencing political outcomes, this analysis examines how politics influences religious outcomes. That Islam, due to its “unique” or “exceptional” relationship with politics, drives political outcomes at the international level in the Middle East is a myth this book challenges by demonstrating how the political considerations of ruling elites – specifically, the intersection of domestic and foreign threats – influence and constrain the kinds of religious soft power strategies adopted by states in the region.

The talk is taking place in room K3.11, in the Strand building.

SPEAKER

Jon Hoffman is a Research Fellow at the Cato Institute and an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University. His research focuses on US foreign policy in the Middle East, political Islam, and Middle East geopolitics.