ABSTRACT
Globalization has many dimensions in the twenty-first century.1 The challenges of global politics include the practice of governance and democracy in a world of diverse economic and social realities. As cultures meet, religions act and interact within core areas, along adjoining borders, and in far-flung diasporas. The encounter between religion and globalization is a crucial feature of our world. In the study of politics, a new awareness of religion is evident. In the global transformation that is occurring, religion is basic for the understanding of particular issues such as democracy and fundamentalisms, conflict and reconciliation, tolerance and public religion, standard and track-two diplomacy. Overarching aspects of international relations such as sovereignty and the structure of the international system are intertwined with religion throughout history up to the present. Likewise, religions are moulded by their political surroundings, locally and globally.
