Berkley Center

A new working paper by Denys Brylov and Tetiana Kalenychenko with Berkley Center Senior Research Fellow Peter Mandaville, published as part of the Geopolitics of Religious Soft Power project, explains why the war between Russia and Ukraine is not religious in origin, though religion figures prominently in several dimensions, including identity formation, social cohesion, and international advocacy.

Commonweal Magazine highlighted the February 20 panel discussion "Democracy and the Culture of Encounter," that was sponsored by the Culture of Encounter Project at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC in collaboration with the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, the Georgetown Democracy Initiative, and Commonweal Magazine.

Berkley Center Senior Fellow Katherine Marshall joined a panel discussion hosted by the World Bank Group Alumni (1818 Society) titled “Keeping the Faith: JDW’s Engagement with Culture and Religion.” The event examined the legacy of former World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn and his efforts to integrate culture and religion into development practice.

In a review of Allen Hertzke's new book Why Religious Freedom Matters: Human Rights and Human Flourishing (2026), Berkley Center Senior Fellow Judd Birdsall highlights how debates over religious freedom intersect with diplomacy, human rights, and global governance.