Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: religious leaders, conflict, and peacemaking / Timothy D. Sisk -- Religion, nationalism, and intolerance / David Little -- Religious leaders, sectarianism, and the Sunni-Shi'a divide in Islam / Nader Hashemi -- Between intolerance and coexistence: the Vatican, Maronites, and the war in Lebanon / George Emile Irani -- Globalization, religion, and nationalism in Israel and Palestine / Micheline Ishay -- Egypt and the legacy of sectarianism / Scott W. Hibbard -- Religion, war, and peacekeeping in Sudan: Shari'a, identity politics, and human rights / Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban -- Nigeria's religious leaders in an age of radicalism and neoliberalism / Rosalind I.J. Hackett -- Just enough to hate -- not enough to love: religious leaders in Northern Ireland / Mari Fitzduff -- Religion, war, and peace in Tajikistan / Karina Korostelina -- The spoiler and the reconciler: Buddhism and the peace process in Sri Lanka / Susan Hayward -- Piety and politics: religious leadership and the conflict in Kashmir / Sumit Ganguly and Praveen Swami -- Conclusion: From terror to tolerance to coexistence in deeply divided societies / Timothy D. Sisk.

Print version record.

Civil war and conflict within countries is the most prevalent threat to peace and security in the opening decades of the twenty-first century. A pivotal factor in the escalation of tensions to open conflict is the role of elites in exacerbating tensions along identity lines by giving the ideological justification, moral reasoning, and call to violence. Between Terror and Tolerance examines the varied roles of religious leaders in societies deeply divided by ethnic, racial, or religious conflict. The chapters in this book explore cases when religious leaders have justified or catalyzed violence.