The role of religion in the mediation process

Abstract

The Reconquista, The Crusades and the more recent September 11 attacks, are a few of the events that have placed religion in a negative light portraying the image that religion is a source of conflict. Religion has been considered as a source of war even though all religions consider peace as one of the most important values. This thesis will be showing how religion is in fact a source of peace and how for many centuries religious leaders and more recently religious actors have been mediating to resolve conflict in a peaceful way. Three case studies were analysed with the purpose of observing whether religious mediators can be more effective in resolving international conflict and the reasons for their success. The findings indicate that although success of mediation is not guaranteed when there is a religious mediator, religious mediators do have advantages over traditional mediators.