Status Updates From Holy Wars and Holy Alliance...

This book is a fascinating, and in many ways indispensable volume in tracing the role of religion in the public square, especially since the 1970s. I think the role he grants to the hierarchy of the Catholic church is likely overstated, however. Consider statements like, "Among the great religions of the world only the Catholic church is institutionally involved in ecumenical and interreligious dialogue." T

Graziano draws a parallel with the the ascendancy of Khomeini and the election of Karol Wojytla to the papal throne. According to him it is this second event that will prove more significant to the role of religion in the world.

"(T)he geopolitics of religions deserves to be a specific and separate discipline, devoted entirely to analyzing the interplay of politics and religious trends using a geopolitical approach. (3)