Berkley Center

Annelle R. Sheline examines a string of declarations issued by Muslim religious scholars (ulama) to denounce various acts of violence carried out by Muslim individuals and concludes that the long-term effects of “declaration proliferation” may be more counterproductive than they initially seem.

Ahmet Erdi Öztürk explains why the increasingly authoritarian and overtly Islam-based policy of Turkey cannot be regarded as benign religious soft power or public diplomacy. Rather, its religious soft power is best characterized in terms of ambivalence.

Peter Henne describes how the United States and Russia have drawn on faith as part of their geopolitical struggles and asserts that while it is difficult to untangle the influence of military, economic, and cultural factors, the religious soft power of the United States and Russia does matter.