Regime Theory and Religion in International Relations by Luke M. Herrington Submitted to the Graduate
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks A World Ripe for the Gods: Regime Theory and Religion in International Relations by Luke M. Herrington Submitted to the graduate degree program in Global and International Studies and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts ______________________________________ Hal E. Wert, Chairperson ______________________________________ Brent J. Steele, Co-Chair ______________________________________ Eric A. Hanley Date Defended: 12 December 2012 ii The thesis committee for Luke M. Herrington certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: A World Ripe for the Gods: Regime Theory and Religion in International Relations ______________________________________ Hal E. Wert, Chairperson ______________________________________ Brent J. Steele, Co-Chair ______________________________________ Eric A. Hanley Date Approved: 12 December 2012 iii Abstract This thesis adds to the burgeoning literature on the role of religion in International Relations (IR), and adds theoretical depth to the emerging subfield of International Political Theology (IPT), by examining the subject through the prism of regime theory, which is necessarily augmented by Vendulka Kubálková’s linguistic model of constructivism. Since religion does not appear to be a rule-governed issue area in IR, religions are treated as regimes, or, as Stephen Krasner defines them, “sets of implicit or explicit principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures around which actor’s expectations converge in a given area of international relations.” Founded primarily on the work of George Modelski, this interdisciplinary study elucidates the nature of transnational religious regimes, which have been functioning since at least the reign of the Roman emperor, Constantine the Great (r. 306-337). By utilizing regime theory, and by tackling the case of the Vietnam War, this thesis also demonstrates that the modern transnational religious regime did not come to an end with the election of John F. Kennedy as the first Roman Catholic President of the United States. It also demonstrates that the view of the Iranian Revolution as the chief example of the global resurgence of religion is flawed, obscured by the early prominence of the modernization theory and secularization thesis in the Social Sciences. Ironically, modernization theory, it is seen, was an instrument of the existing Protestant-based religious regime, illustrating, like the case of the Roman Empire, that religion’s importance is nothing new: religion has always been important in world affairs. iv This thesis is dedicated in loving memory to Ralph Edward Parker II Friday, September 13, 1985 – Sunday, September 19, 2010 v Acknowledgements This thesis represents the culmination of years of research that no doubt began during my high school career. It was at Archbishop O’Hara High School, with my courses in government, history, and theology, that I first became fascinated by the interrelated study of religion, politics, and history. As such, I am grateful to each of the teachers that influenced my earliest thoughts on the matter. I would like to thank especially though, Jessica Brookman, and other former teachers, like Shirley Cotter, who first instilled within me a passion for writing. I am also grateful to a host of thinkers like Madeleine Albright, Daniel Philpott, and others too numerous to name for providing me with my first in depth introductions to the subject of religion in International Relations (IR), as well as other scholars who have no doubt left their marks on my thought process. This thesis, as evidenced by my bibliography, could not have been written without many of their insights, and I am proud to carry on the intellectual torch. Most of all, I am heavily indebted to George Modelski whose insights about culture and long cycles are foundational in this thesis. That said, I am also grateful to Professor Modelski and a number of other scholars who have contributed, or will be contributing, to the special series (for which I am the editor) commemorating regime theory’s thirtieth anniversary at e-International Relations. Some of their influences are no doubt present herein. I have incurred many debts in the actual writing of this thesis though, and as such, I owe a number of people my gratitude. First and foremost, I would like to thank Dan G. Cox, my mentor and friend. Next, I am very grateful to Jeffrey Haynes, whose long-distance research assistance all the way from London helped me identify key source material. I am especially grateful to Professor Haynes for providing me with an unpublished chapter from the forthcoming revision of his book, An Introduction to International Relations and Religion. I am also thankful vi to James MacGregor and Jim Willbanks for helping me find useful sources during the course of this research; and to Steven Greiert for politely clarifying my understanding of the sixteenth century Jesuits’ role in the protection of the Americas’ native populations. Darlene Budd and Bob Baumann also provided helpful advice. I would like to extend a very special thank you to Phil Mullins, who graciously took time away from his retirement to read a draft of my section on the definition of religion. His comments and insights proved fruitful and helpful. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the helpful staff of the University of Kansas Libraries, and especially their Interlibrary Loan Department. My constant stream of requests undoubtedly kept their staff very busy over the last two years. With that in mind, I would also like to thank the helpful research archivists at the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech University. Sheon Montgomery, to be more specific, was able to provide me with a copy of the only academic review of Avro Manhattan’s polemical Vietnam… Why did We Go? from the out- of-print journal, the Indochina Review. Next I would like to thank the members of my thesis committee—Eric A. Hanley, Brent J. Steele, and Hal E. Wert—for their time and comments. I am especially thankful to Professor Steele and his spring 2012 POLS 680 class for providing comments and feedback on an embryonic draft of this thesis; I would like to single out R. McKay Stangler for playing devil’s advocate throughout the course of this research. My advisor, Professor Wert, has been an incredible source of inspiration and a great critic throughout the writing of this thesis. Each subsequent version of this project has improved substantially thanks to his insights and effort. Last, but certainly not least, I am most grateful to my family: to my parents, Robert and Linda Weidner, who have helped my wife and I so much; to my wife, Jeannie Herrington, who keeps me grounded and is both a herculean proof-reader and invaluable source of inspiration; vii and to my children, Maddy, Lilly, and Kady, who have not understood why Daddy has had to spend so much time at school, the library, or in front of the computer, but who have been infinitely patient nonetheless throughout the completion of this project. Thanks to everyone (and anyone I may not have mentioned) who played a role in the improvement of this thesis; any errors herein are my own. viii Contents Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Acronyms x 1 Introduction 1 Culture in George Modelski’s Long Cycle Theory 2 The Origins of the Transnational Religious Regime 6 American Hegemony and the End of the Transnational Religious Regime 8 Framework of What Follows 11 2 Religion in IR Theory: Four Dilemmas 14 Definitions: A Typology of Religion in IR 17 Religious Worldviews and Ontology: The Debate 36 “Thick” Religion, Subjectivism and Epistemology 43 Methodological Atheism and the Quantitative God Gap 47 3 Linguistic Constructivism and Regime Theory: A Synthetic Approach 51 Texts, Reason, and Religious Identity 51 Regimes and Identity 53 Regime Theory Explained 54 The Grotian Tradition in Regime Theory and Constructivism 60 4 Constantine and the Roman Empire’s Religio-Identity Regime 63 The First Regime: Paganism and Superstitio 63 Constantine and the Edict of Milan: Towards a Second Regime 65 Theodosius and the Third Regime 70 5 Religion and Social Science in U.S. Foreign Policy 72 The Globalization of Secularism and the Secularization Thesis 72 ix Religion and Dependencia 76 Modernization and Foreign Policy: Towards an Irreligious Regime? 80 The Iranian Revolution 82 Roman Catholicism and the War in Vietnam 85 Avro Manhattan 99 6 Conclusion 101 Bibliography 109 x Acronyms 9/11 Tuesday, 11 September 2001 AFV American Friends of Vietnam CCC Communist Central Committee (People’s Republic of China) CIA Central Intelligence Agency (United States of America) CRS Catholic Relief Services EOR Economics of Religion FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation (United States of America) HST Hegemonic Stability Theory ICRD International Center for Religion and Diplomacy IGO Intergovernmental Organization INGO International Nongovernmental Organization Interpol International Criminal Police Organization IPE International Political Economy IPT International Political Theology IR International Relations IRT International Relations Theory JWT Just War Tradition LOC Library of Congress (United States of America) MI-6 Secret Intelligence Service/Military Intelligence, Section 6 (United Kingdom) MIT Massachusetts Institute of Technology NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization NGO Nongovernmental Organization NRM New Religious Movement NSC National Security Council (United States of America) OCB Operations Coordinating Board (United States of America) PRC People’s Republic of China SOS Secretary of State (United States of America) TAN Transnational Advocacy Network TIN Transnational Ideological Network TRA Transnational Religious Actor UFO Unidentified Flying Object UK United Kingdom UN United Nations U.S. United States of America WCC World Council of Churches WTO World Trade Organization 1 Chapter 1 – Introduction Mundus est ingens deorum omnium templum: the world is the mighty temple of the gods ~Seneca the Younger (Quoted in Stone, 2005: 64), Epistulae morales ad Lucilium, c.