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Essay on Religion, Politics, and Diplomacy

Decent Essays

“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is” (Mahatma Gandhi). Though many politicians of the day say that government should be in a separate category than religion, it still plays an important role. Religion may not be big in countries like America, but it weighs heavily on many other countries all around the world. That is why when doing anything, a business deal, or a diplomatic trip, there needs to be cautionary measures taken. Two authors go over the subject of one country understanding another: Journalist Thomas Friedman in his text “The Dell Theory of Conflict Prevention”, and former Secretary of State Madeline Albright in her text “Faith and Diplomacy”. In both texts the authors stem off …show more content…

Albright really wants peace, and as a former Secretary of State she has not seen much. She talks a lot about religion and how it can be good and bad. People fight wars because of religion; they also die because of it too.
There can be a level of not understanding a different country’s habits and niches. Albright believes a goal should be set by the government, “In the future, no American ambassador should be assigned to a country where religious feelings are strong unless he or she has a deep understanding of the faiths commonly practiced there” (29). Take this idea of Albright’s and expand it to not only diplomats, but the traveling business man as well. There are many a time when a business man does not know the culture and religious background of a country, does something silly during a business meeting, and offends everyone. Let’s say if the business man goes to Japan, if they don’t follow these rules: No excessive eye contact, never ever be late for an appointment, avoid wearing lots of jewelry and bright colors, and others as well, the Japanese business man will get very upset, and that could make everything bad. If someone does these bad things with the wrong people, like a dignitary, it could mean war. Examining the tension between China and Taiwan,
Hundreds of big American tech companies now have R&D operations in China; a war that disrupted them could lead not only to the companies moving their plants elsewhere…

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