Killing in the Name of God or Land? Religious Violence along Civilizational Faultlines

John F. McCauley, a research fellow at the Initiative on Religion in International Affairs at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, led a seminar on religious violence in Africa and the Middle East. Attempting to analyze Samuel Huntington's concern for the Muslim-Christian civilizational faultline in Africa, McCauley utilized empirical international armed conflict data to show weaker trends of religious violence on the African faultline as compared to the Middle East. McCauley concluded that the presence of sacred lands in the Middle East increases the likelihood of religious violence. The Initiative on Religion in International Affairs is funded in part by the Henry R. Luce Foundation.