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Buddhist Diplomacy
Dr Paul Hedges Professor of Interreligious Studies and Associate Dean (Scholarly Ecosystems)
Dr Paul Hedges
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This will be an exploration of the way that religious cultural capital is employed in soft power relations in Asia. Particular attention is paid to the Nalanda University project as well as recent Chinese moves to use Buddhism as a source of soft power and for wider diplomatic work. This will include recent comments by President Xi Jinping and other high profile leaders in relation to the Belt and Road strategy. Some aspects of the history and regional context is explored, alongside the way that largely secular nations make use of religion in such ways. A journal article looking at the soft power of Buddhist Diplomacy as employed by largely secular states will be explored. Further work will be done looking at ways that Buddhist resources may be utilised in developing diplomacy with a particular Buddhist focus in this area.
| Theme: | Country and Region Studies / International Politics and Security / Regionalism and Multilateralism / Religion in Contemporary Society |
| Region: | East Asia and Asia Pacific / South Asia / Southeast Asia and ASEAN |
| Entity: | SRP |
