Sussex IR academic commissioned by Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to work on religious freedom and peace
By: Sarah Schepers
Last updated: Thursday, 7 November 2013
Research undertaken at Sussex on religion and international relations by Senior Lecturer Dr Fabio Petito has led to his appointment, by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE), as Scientific Co-ordinator for a yearly international seminar in Trento and co-author of a report on religious freedom and peace.
The report, ‘Promoting Religious Freedom and Peace through Cross-Cultural Dialogue’, was published by the Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI).
It is based on an International Workshop held on 11 February 2013 in Rome and co-chaired by the Italian and the Jordanian ministers of Foreign Affairs.
Dr Petito had a leading role in the design of this workshop, which gathered together more than 60 academics, think-tank analysts and media professionals from all over the world.
Dr Petito and his co-author Silvio Ferrari (University of Milan) constructed the report as a critical engagement and reflection of the workshop’s discussion in the context of the growing international attention given to the so-called international religious freedom agenda. It makes a contribution to both the conceptual and policy debate on a crucial issue for the future of a peaceful and multicultural international society.
As a result of a dialogue with the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, particular attention was given to three dimensions:
1) the role of religion as a factor of change in international relations;
2) the contribution to the dialogue between the West and Islam offered by Christian communities in the Middle East and North Africa and by Muslim immigrant communities in Europe and the United States;
3) the different ways of interpreting the concept of citizenship in the European context and the Islamic world.
The report contributes to the debate on the international religious freedom agenda and suggests that the simultaneous promotion of religious freedom on the one hand and cross-cultural and inter-religious dialogue on the other can represent a consensual and effective platform to combat intolerance, discrimination and violence based on religion or belief and to help build a peaceful socio-political environment in the long term.
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