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Il Ruolo Del Sentire Religioso Nelle Relazioni Internazionali Il Caso Della Questione Irlandese

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Il Ruolo Del Sentire Religioso Nelle Relazioni Internazionali Il Caso Della Questione Irlandese Corso di Laurea magistrale in Relazioni Internazionali Comparate Tesi di Laurea Il Ruolo del Sentire Religioso nelle Relazioni Internazionali Il Caso della Questione Irlandese Relatore Ch. Prof. Antonio Trampus Correlatore Ch. Prof. Giuseppe Goisis Laureando Roberta Gottardello Matricola 802168 Anno Accademico 2011 / 2012 INDICE Ringraziamenti iv Abstract v Lista abbreviazioni xii Schema xiv Mappe xix INTRODUZIONE 1 1. QUESTIONE IRLANDESE: UN CONFLITTO RELIGIOSO? 5 1.1. Il Protestantesimo e il conflitto irlandese 7 1.2. Ian Paisley e l’Ordine d’Orange 10 1.3. Il Cattolicesimo e il conflitto irlandese 13 1.4. L’atteggiamento della Chiesa 15 2. RELIGIONE COME IDENTITÀ: LE RADICI STORICHE 22 2.1. La costruzione delle identità irlandesi 23 2.1.1. Irlandesi e «Old English»: i cattolici 23 2.1.2. La Riforma e i risvolti del Cristianesimo 28 2.1.3. «New English»: i protestanti 35 2.1.4. I Dissenters 39 2.2. L’approccio del Cristianesimo alla guerra 41 2.2.1. Tradizione cattolica e protestante a confronto: il diritto di resistenza 42 2.2.1.1. Le Rivoluzioni Inglesi 48 2.2.1.2. Le conseguenze irlandesi: il cristallizzarsi delle identità 56 2.3. Un fattore nuovo: l’influenza statunitense 58 2.3.1. Dalla Pace di Vestfalia all’Illuminismo: la creazione di uno stato secolare 59 ii 2.3.2. La democrazia americana: dalle prime colonie alla Rivoluzione 66 2.3.2.1. La religione civile degli Stati Uniti 69 2.3.2.2. Un componente del «melting pot»: gli Irish Americans 72 2.3.3. L’influenza della diaspora in Irlanda 76 3. I TROUBLES 85 3.1. Le origini della Questione Irlandese 85 3.1.1. L’Home Rule e l’Indipendenza 85 3.1.2. Settarismo del Nord 91 3.1.3. Il nuovo atteggiamento degli Irish Americans 95 3.2. La Questione Irlandese 100 3.3. Il ruolo della diaspora nella Questione 106 3.4. Gli Hunger Strikes e le conseguenze politiche 110 4. IL «FATTORE R» NELLE RELAZIONI INTERNAZIONALI 115 4.1. Religione e politica estera 117 4.1.1. La Chiesa nell’era globale 117 4.1.2. Identità religiosa, appartenenza etnica e gruppi di pressione 120 4.2. Gli effetti della globalizzazione 125 4.3. Il processo di pace nordirlandese 129 4.4. Irlanda del Nord: perché il problema non può considerarsi risolto 134 4.4.1. Progressi politici 144 4.4.2. Coesione sociale 147 4.5. Il peso del sistema internazionale 155 4.5.1. Interesse internazionale in Irlanda del Nord 156 4.5.2. L’esempio degli Stati Uniti 162 CONCLUSIONE 169 BIBLIOGRAFIA 172 iii RINGRAZIAMENTI Innanzitutto, vorrei esprimere la mia gratitudine al Prof. Trampus, relatore della mia tesi, e al Prof. Goisis, correlatore, per il prezioso aiuto e il sostegno fornitomi durante la stesura del lavoro. Desidero, inoltre, ringraziare la il Prof. Guelke della Queen‘s University di Belfast per il materiale che ha gentilmente messo a mia disposizione e per aver condiviso con me la sua profonda conoscenza nel campo della politica. Vorrei ricordare e ringraziare anche il personale dell'Università Ca‘ Foscari, nonché della Queen‘s University, per il graditissimo sostegno ricevuto durante le mie ricerche. Ringrazio con affetto la mia famiglia che mi ha sostenuto con estrema pazienza durante gli anni all'università, donandomi non solo un aiuto economico, ma anche e soprattutto un importante supporto morale. Infine desidero ringraziare il mio ragazzo, i miei amici e i miei colleghi. In particolar modo vorrei rivolgere un sentito ringraziamento alle persone che più di tutte mi sono state accanto, nei momenti di gioia ma soprattutto nei momenti di difficoltà e sconforto. La vostra vicinanza e il vostro impagabile affetto hanno significato moltissimo per me, ed è per questo che a voi rivolgo dal profondo del mio cuore il più sentito grazie. iv ABSTRACT This study is about the role of religion in International Relations, which I will explain taking as case study the events known as Troubles. The conflict that developed in Northern Ireland during the Sixties aspires to be a representative example of how religion and politics interweave. The main point I aim to prove is that since religion is a source of values and world views, as well as part of the cultural heritage of individuals and communities, it is still an important conditioning force within International Relations. First, I will investigate the role that religion played within the Northern Irish conflict. Though many scholars do not consider the Troubles a religious conflict, I argue that religious identification of the communities played a primary role in moulding their attitudes toward the conflict itself. As a matter of fact, it is inevitable to identify a protestant and a Roman Catholic community when speaking about the Troubles. This is because the faiths of these communities are deeply representative of their own identity, both individual and collective. In addition, it is important to remember that both the Roman Catholic Church and protestant exponents have been involved in the social and political struggle. In order to investigate this important aspect, this part will be dedicated to analyse the figure of the religious and political leader Ian Paisley and his role as member of the Orange Order in the Troubles. Special attention will be given also to the Catholic Church involvement. The Troubles have not been an isolated episode in Irish history. Rather, they have been the culmination of anxieties between two communities, whose conflicting identity have developed in terms of contraposition. Therefore, in order to understand how these factors have entered the political scenario, I will depict the process that led to the formation of Irish identities. The historical outline is crucial to explain how the radicalization of religious beliefs within the Irish identities‘ frame have endured throughout the centuries and how did they affect Irish politics during the Troubles. v Since the British conquest of the island, the process of creation of the national identity has followed different patterns. External factors also have taken part in this process: the Reformation and the birth of the secular state are the most important ones. Following the events of the 16th century, Anglicanism took root in Ireland. The plantation of the English culture and religion was not a simple one. Many struggles between the colonizers and the Irish, who had embraced the catholic faith, occurred. Eventually, neither did Anglicanism defeat Catholicism, nor did one creed recognize the other, but a sort of troubled coexistence was created. At the beginning of the 17th century new migrants from Scotland established in the island, especially in the north. Consequently other forms of Protestantism (Calvinism mainly) reached Ireland and produced new struggles. Due to these dynamics three key identities have developed in Ireland: the Old English and the Irish; the New English and, finally, the Dissenters. Since the Unites States played a special role in Northern Ireland during the Troubles it will be helpful to explain the origin of the relationship between these two nations. The US participation in the question finds legitimization due to two main factors: (1) the specificity of the young American nation, guided by principles founded on the Enlightenment‘s tenets, and its manifest destiny: to spread democracy all over the world; (2) the importance of the Irish American diaspora, which linked steadily the two countries on the basis of deeply religious values. The history of the origin of the northern American nation is therefore functional in order to explain its linkage with Ireland as well as the uniqueness of American approach to international relations. First, the US nationalism is permeated of a specific American civil religion. This atypical system of beliefs that guides the nation and its policymakers drives US foreign policy toward the fulfilment of its goal: to save those nations where people are dispossessed of their freedom by a tyrannical regime. In order to understand how this aspect conditioned US involvement in the Troubles, the origin of the American democracy since the 1776 Revolution will be described. In addition, it will be analysed the importance of civil religion in moulding US foreign policy. Second, there is a main part of American people who exhibits an ambiguous sense of belonging – toward the United States as well as the ancestral homeland. This segment of the population has not completely integrated into US society, thus vi producing the so called American melting pot – of which Irish Americans are part. If on the one hand, Irish Americans kept their allegiance toward the homeland alive, on the other hand they experienced a process of identification with the host country (United States), thus developing a double loyalty. These two factors represent the two elements that compose US identity. The history of United States and Northern Ireland are interwoven with the history of their religious identities. Because of their common past, the chronicle of these two countries is often overlapping. As a matter of fact, what first linked the two nations, geographically divided by the Atlantic Ocean, is a common history of oppression accomplished by the British Empire. When the British arrived to colonize those countries, they first annihilated the natives inhabitants and then transplanted there their own people, language, culture and faith. When the colonies of North America finally achieved independence, the principle of religious freedom was included in their new Constitution. It was in order to reach that freedom that the first Irish immigrants arrived to the «New World» in the 18th century. Following the Famine that struck Ireland in 1845, a new wave of immigrants arrived to the United States. They escaped poverty, disease and death facing a long and dangerous overseas journey in order to reach the land of opportunities and freedom.
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