Religion, Terror, and Error: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Challenge of Spiritual Engagement(Praeger Security International)

This book describes how the United States can integrate religious considerations into its foreign policy, moving towards a new leadership paradigm that effectively counters the challenge of Islamist extremism. How should the United States deal with the jihadist challenge and other religious imperatives that permeate today's geopolitical landscape? Religion, Terror, and Error: U.S. Foreign Policy and the Challenge of Spiritual Engagement argues that what is required is a longer-term strategy of cultural engagement, backed by a deeper understanding of how others view the world and what is important to them. The means by which that can be accomplished are the subject of this book. This work achieves three important goals. It shows how religious considerations can be incorporated into the practice of U.S. foreign policy; offers a successor to the rational-actor model of decision-making that has heretofore excluded "irrational" factors like religion; and suggests a new paradigm for U.S. leadership in anticipation of tomorrow's multipolar world. In describing how the United States should realign itself to deal more effectively with the causal factors that underlying religious extremism, this innovative treatise explains how existing capabilities can be redirected to respond to the challenge and identifies additional capabilities that will be needed to complete the task.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by General Anthony Zinni, USMC (Ret) Preface Acknowledgments I. Observation 1 Beyond the Rational Actor 2 A Closer Look at Today's Challenge II. Orientation 3 The Muslim View of the West 4 The Western View of Islam 5 Bridging the Cultural Divide III. Decision 6 A New Framework for Analysis IV. Action 7 Realigning the Wheels of Government 8 Addressing the Operational Implications of Church/State Separation 9 Developing a Preventive Engagement Capability 10 The American Muslim Community: An Asset-in-Waiting 11 Military Chaplains: Bridging Church and State 12 Capitalizing on the Transnational Capability of NGOs 13 Dealing with the Ideas behind the Guns V. Moving Beyond 171 14 The Ideas behind Our Own Guns 15 Toward a New Paradigm 16 Meeting the Challenge of Spiritual Engagement Appendix A: CC CPSU Letter on Afghanistan, May 10, 1988 Appendix B: Department of State Structural Alternatives Appendix C: The Grand Bargain Appendix D: Recapturing the Spirit of Jewish-Muslim Dialogue Notes Glossary Index

About the Author :
Douglas M. Johnston, Jr., PhD, is president and founder of the Washington-based International Center for Religion & Diplomacy.

Review :
An important and thoughtful book that deserves to be read and considered carefully by policy makers and implementers alike.