Religion and Australia’s Near Region

Abstract

Acknowledging the place of religion is important in meeting the challenges of contemporary conflict and strategy. Not only do people from different religions think about the world in different ways, they also behave in different ways. To understand why they do what they do, we need to try and see the world the way they do.

Western liberal democracies have largely underestimated this dimension to conflict. They have secularised their understanding of war, and chosen to centre their concerns on national security, counter insurgency and the application of hard kinetic effects. The exclusion of elements that clearly play a central role in contemporary conflict has left foreign policy practitioners and tacticians with an inadequate frame of reference for dealing with problems of communal identity that manifest themselves in the form of ethnic conflict, tribal warfare, and religious hostilities.

Improving Australia’s understanding of religion and its significance within the near region will contribute to the success of operations through risk reduction and the exploitation of opportunities, including the potential to influence behaviours and perceptions. It improves the ability to calculate and plan military outcomes, and leads to better informed strategic, operational and tactical decision-making by commanders and individuals of all ranks.