Religion and Theory of International Relations

Today، the idea of necessary conflict between the theory of international relations and religious norms has faced serious challenges. Furthermore، to make uses of capacities of religions to compensate shortages of the mainstream of the theory of international relations، serious attempts have been made. The present article is an instance of works which are being done in this field. The main question of the article is: «may a religious theory of international relations be introduced?» The hypothesis of the article is: religion may work as an important basis on which normativist theories in the field of international relations may be formulated. In the present article، the idea of separation between religion and theoretical principles of international relations has been criticized. Also، it has been argued that the idea of unavoidable separation between religion and theoretical field of international relations has its roots in the narrow and reductionist view to the nature and function of the theory. Thus، the nature and function of the theory of international relations should be so revised that capacities of religion may be employed to introduce a religious theory of international relations. In the present article، Islam is mentioned as a religion which، because of its high capacity of norm-making in various fields of social life، provides a suitable ground to process normative theories in the field of international relations and foreign policy.