Jodok Troy

A Universal Sacred Mission and the Universal Secular Organization: The Holy See and the United Nations

Today, the Holy See has formal diplomatic relations with almost all states around the globe as well as with the United Nations (UN), where it holds the curious position of a Permanent Observer. Representing a universal sacred mission, the Holy See views the UN as one of the most important avenues in international relations for pursuing its aims. Vatican diplomats have thus been at the forefront of lobbying for human dignity at the UN in various conferences and popes have even directly addressed the UNs General Assembly. In examining relations between the Holy See and the UN, at least two issues are obvious and of primary importance. First, both institutions share a universal approach – the latter to represent all states of the world and the Holy See to represent all Catholics. Furthermore, both preach to their constituencies that they represent a universal idealist mission – to pursue peace and work towards the universalization of human rights. Second, the Holy See enjoys a Permanent Observer status within the UN and also a seemingly privileged status among all other religious communities. By adopting short studies of the Holy Sees interventions in three dimensions of human rights advocacy at the UN, along with its supplement of the UNs mission in correcting capitalist development, the article concludes that the Catholic religion has returned in a role that reaffirms the possibilities of enhancing society on a globalist scale rather than merely reinforcing an international society of sovereign states.

The Transformation of Targeted Killing and International Order

ABSTRACT This article introduces the special issue’s question of whether and how the current transformation of targeted killing is transforming the global international order and provides the conceptual ground for the individual contributions to the special issue. It develops a two-dimensional concept of political order and introduces a theoretical framework that conceives the maintenance and transformation of international order as a dynamic interplay between its behavioral dimension in the form of violence and discursive processes and its institutional dimension in the form of ideas, norms, and rules. The article also conceptualizes targeted killing and introduces a typology of targeted-killing acts on the basis of their legal and moral legitimacy. Building on this conceptual groundwork, the article takes stock of the current transformation of targeted killing and summarizes the individual contributions to this special issue.

‘Catholic waves’ of democratization? Roman Catholicism and its potential for democratization

The aim and scope of the article is to examine if Catholicism is or can be a major force in democratization. And if so, what are its core values and motivations? To examine this issue, it is also necessary to evaluate democratization outcomes where the church was not involved. We shall see that it is unavoidable to take into account fundamental Christian and thus also Catholic values and doctrines which are – despite all ‘earthly’ constraints – in favour of both liberal and democratic values. In the case of the Catholic Church this is primarily because it perceives the social message of the gospels not merely as theory but also as a call to action, followed by many of its adherents. The article argues that the main reason for this was the result of the churchs changing political theology, following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), which enabled the churchs adoption of a pronounced focus on: human rights, religious freedom, democracy, and economic development.

Religion and Foreign Affairs: Essential Readings

may be, but a distinction made by arguably the most respected theologian in Jewish history would seem to be more significant than Freidenreich suggests – especially since he focuses on theological texts rather than the actual behavior of real people. Moreover, with respect to dietary restrictions, while Quran 5:5 does allow Muslims to eat the food (meat) of the people of the Book, other passages in the Quran do not (pp. 132–33). Freidenreich’s neat little numerical scale simply does not capture this complexity. Freidenreich’s assertions about the differences between the ways Sunni and Shi’ite Islam classify infidels also seem implausible. He writes that ‘Sunni authorities uniformly permit the consumption of meat from animals slaughtered by Jews and Christians’ whereas ‘most Shi’i authorities, in contrast, forbid the consumption of all meat prepared by non-Muslims and even go so far as to treat nearly all food associated with foreigners as impure’ (pp. 144– 45). It is certainly true that Shi’ism has tended to emphasize the impurity of all infidels and their food to a greater degree than Sunni Islam. But Freidenreich interprets this to mean that Shi’ism has embraced ‘an effectively binary conception’ of Muslim/infidel that differs radically from the ‘big tent’ conception of humanity favored by Sunnis (p. 160). This seems to be a remarkably implausible inference. Freidenreich presents no evidence that the People of the Book in Sunni lands were in fact any more part of a ‘big tent’ than was the case in regions under Shi’i control. To be sure, Freidenreich stresses that his study is about the history of ideas rather than social history. Even so, to speak of the Sunni view of Jews and Christians as involving a ‘big tent’ seems almost as bizarre as suggesting that medieval Christians imagined Jews as part of a ‘big tent’ because they shared some of the same sacred texts. The fact remains, however, that Freidenreich has written a very important book. While one may disagree with some of his interpretations, he deserves credit for the very fact that he chose to write about the linkage between food taboos and religious boundaries. Moreover, the erudition he displays in tackling this topic is dazzling. It is to be hoped that he will pursue further research along these lines concerning how the taboos and boundaries he discusses have evolved in recent centuries.

Desire for power or the power of desire? Mimetic theory and the heart of twentieth-century realism

For René Girard, mimetic rivalry is the main cause of violence. Mimetic theory addresses a fundamental problem of international relations theory: the problem of anarchy as it is outlined in basic texts of Realism, also acknowledging the conflicting potential of desire. The article argues for deepening the discussion between the mimetic theory of the French philosopher, anthropologist, and literary theorist Girard and the tradition of twentieth-century Realism as exemplified by Hans Morgenthau, who frequently stressed in his concept of “the political” the importance of the human desire for power. For Girard, the problem of conflicting desire is solved by the scapegoat mechanism, the canalization of mimetic violence. Nevertheless, international relations theory reveals that identity is formed prior to the construction of the Other. I argue that Girard’s insights can enrich thinking about the terms Self, Other, and identity, particularly in the twentieth-century Realist tradition. Ultimately, this leads to the proposition that appreciating Girard’s thoughts helps make implicit claims and assumptions of Realism, particularly regarding violence and sub-state issues, more explicit.

Two "Popes" to Speak for the World : The Pope and the United Nations Secretary General in World Politics

This article argues that a combination of individuals in institutions leads to the evolution of the Pope and the UN’s Secretary General as instances of moral leadership. Comparing the pope and the Secretary General in terms of scope and aim of their agency and normative claims starts with the observation that their agency is influenced by institutions. If those individuals link responsibility and the agency granted by their institutions, they potentially can outgrow institutional constraints. Both individuals developed influence in terms of moral and executive leadership apart from internal constitutional foundations of their institutions and external structural constraints and demands.

Dag Hammarskjöld: An International Civil Servant Uniting Mystics and Realistic Diplomatic Engagement

The United Nations secretary-general from 1953 to 1961, Dag Hammarskjöld, whose spiritual beliefs influenced his political activity, was searching for universality and solidarity as written in the charter of the UN. While in office, Hammarskjöld was able to unite personal belief and political rationale. This is the main reason he became a respected and true international civil servant. Hammarskjöld was neither a pure idealist nor a pure realist. This article examines the moral but not moralistic life and legacy of Hammarskjöld, who united mystics and realistic political engagement. In doing so it draws on the lessons learned from a “practical mystical” and international civil servant. This is chiefly done by using the English School approach of international relations theory while at same time pointing out the impact of positive mimesis. By devoting his private life to God, Hammarskjöld was able to devote his political life to the UN.

‘The Pope’s own hand outstretched’: Holy See diplomacy as a hybrid mode of diplomatic agency

The unconventional nature of Holy See diplomats rests in the composite character of their ecclesiastical role as the Pope’s representatives and their legal diplomatic status and commencement to ordinary diplomatic practice. Holy See diplomacy is a form of conduct created by a set of mixed secular and religious standards in which agents are guided by practices. I locate this argument within a classical English School and a conventional understanding of practice, diplomacy, and agency while incorporating understandings of the diplomat as a stranger. The article situates a Holy See diplomat’s mode of agency as a hybrid one by nature, located at the intersections of political and religious modes of agency and substantial and relational conceptions of international politics. I probe this conceptual framework of hybrid agency by analysing episodes involving papal diplomats in turmoil-ridden historical episodes, and correspondence with informed agents.

International society’s challenge of targeted killing by drones

Targeted killing by drones is a systemic driven instrumental practice that overrides societal non-instrumental practices that are essential for international society. Doing so, targeted killing by drones is not simply another form of inflicting violence by technical means to political opponents. It also inflicts the agents applying this practice, tempting them to frame it as a permissible measure to preserve international society. The reliance on drones for targeted killing is a pursuit of non-societal practices that seek individual and retributive justice and anticipatory and preventive self-defence by means of force relying on technological advantage. Eventually, this practice permits military tactics to steer political strategy, mitigating standards and practices agreed on in international society’s norms, rules of conduct, and institutions.

The Power of the Political in an Urbanizing International

In this article, I argue that there is a startling resonance between Hans Morgenthau’s conception of the political and power and recent analyses of an urbanizing international realm. By making this connection clear, I depart from a mechanistic understanding of politics, which tends to inform both conventional International Relations views and some claims in urban studies pertaining to the rise of global cities as international actors. Turning to Morgenthau’s conception of the political and power also has wider implications for International Relations studies of urbanization: it helps explain a tendency toward depoliticization caused by ignoring the conflictual character of the political. The emphasis on the political, on the other hand, serves as a bridge between International Relations and urbanization studies by creating conditions for the repoliticization of urban space. After illustrating the existential manifestation of the political and its violent outfalls, the remainder of this article turns to its relational and dialogical manifestation that points out the shortcomings of reading the political merely as an existential concept in the context of urbanization.