Religious Soft Power and State Diplomacy in Southeast Asia: Sacred Capital and Strategic Legitimacy
Muhammad Ridho
Religion has re-emerged as an important dimension of diplomacy as states increasingly mobilize moral narratives, sacred symbols, and religious institutions in international engagement. In Southeast Asia, this development is especially significant because religion remains deeply embedded in public legitimacy, political identity, and regional image formation. This article examines how religious soft power operates as a diplomatic resource in Southeast Asia and how sacred capital is translated into state influence. It adopts a qualitative and theory-driven approach informed by constructivism, soft power theory, and the concept of sacred capital. The analysis draws on comparative regional literature, official speeches, policy-related materials, and secondary sources on religion, diplomacy, and state identity. Attention is directed to the relationship between moral legitimacy, institutional credibility, domestic political coherence, and external diplomatic projection. A comparative reading is used to identify recurring patterns as well as variation across different national settings. Religious soft power emerges as effective when diplomatic narratives of moderation, harmony, or civilizational value are supported by credible institutions and coherent domestic practice. Religious diplomacy therefore functions as both an opportunity and a constraint, since external attraction depends on internal legitimacy. The article contributes to the field by offering a regionally grounded framework for understanding how religion, soft power, and state diplomacy intersect in Southeast Asia.
Jun 04, 2026Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)religion, diplomacy, soft power, Southeast Asia
Religious-Based Organizations in Southeast Asia: Non-State Actors, Peacebuilding, and Regional Governance Networks
Ahmad Haziq Rahman, Siti Nur Aisyah Hamid
Religious-Based Organizations have become increasingly visible in Southeast Asia as societies confront conflict, humanitarian pressure, and the limits of state-centered peacebuilding. In a region marked by religious diversity and uneven governance capacity, these organizations often occupy trusted positions within local communities and transnational moral networks. This article examines how Religious-Based Organizations operate as non-state actors in peacebuilding and regional governance in Southeast Asia. It adopts a qualitative and theory-driven approach informed by Constructivism, Liberalism, and the concept of sacred capital. The analysis draws on comparative regional literature, policy-related documents, organizational materials, and secondary sources on religion, civil society, governance, and peace processes in Southeast Asia. Attention is directed to the relationship between moral authority, community legitimacy, transnational engagement, and institutional participation in peace-oriented initiatives. A comparative reading is used to identify recurring patterns as well as context-specific forms of faith-based action across the region. Religious-Based Organizations emerge as influential actors because they combine peacebuilding capacity with moral legitimacy that often exceeds the reach of formal institutions. Their role indicates that regional governance in Southeast Asia increasingly depends on non-state religious actors operating across local, national, and transnational arenas. The article contributes to the field by offering a regionally grounded framework for understanding how religion, non-state agency, and governance interact in Southeast Asian peacebuilding.
Jun 04, 2026Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)religion, peacebuilding, governance, Southeast Asia
Religious Education, Radicalism, and Peacebuilding in Southeast Asia: Pedagogy, Pluralism, and Social Resilience
Thomas van der Meer, Aisha Rahman-de Vries
Religious education has become increasingly important in Southeast Asia as societies confront the intertwined challenges of radicalism, intercommunal tension, and fragile social cohesion. In a region marked by deep religious diversity and uneven conflict histories, educational institutions play a critical role in shaping how young people understand faith, authority, difference, and peaceful coexistence. This article examines how religious education can function as a strategic arena for countering radicalism and promoting peace in Southeast Asia. It adopts a qualitative and theory-driven approach informed by peace education, critical pedagogy, and social learning perspectives. The analysis draws on comparative regional literature, policy discussions, institutional debates, and documented educational practices related to religion, tolerance, and peacebuilding. Attention is directed to curriculum orientation, pedagogical style, institutional culture, and the broader social environment in which religious learning takes place. A comparative reading is used to identify both recurring patterns and context-specific educational dynamics across the region. Religious education emerges as an important preventive mechanism when it promotes critical reflection, ethical responsibility, and inclusive understandings of community. Peace-oriented religious learning therefore offers a more sustainable response to radicalism than approaches that rely only on reactive security measures. The article contributes to the field by providing a regionally grounded framework for understanding how pedagogy, religious formation, and peacebuilding intersect in Southeast Asia.
Jun 04, 2026Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)religious education, radicalism, peacebuilding, Southeast Asia
Religion, Nationalism, and Identity Politics in Southeast Asia: Legitimacy, Pluralism, and Regional Order
Muhammad Usman Khalid, Ayesha Noor Siddiqu
Religion has regained political significance in Southeast Asia as identity contestation, public morality, and national legitimacy increasingly intersect in state and societal life. Across the region, religious nationalism has become a major force shaping inclusion, exclusion, and the symbolic boundaries of political community. This article examines how identity politics and religious nationalism structure political order and regional stability in Southeast Asia. It adopts a qualitative and theory-driven approach grounded in constructivism and the sociology of religion in politics. The analysis draws on comparative regional literature, policy discourse, and historical debates on state formation, legitimacy, and pluralism in selected Southeast Asian settings. Attention is directed to the ways religious identity is mobilized in relation to nationalism, governance, and social hierarchy, while also tracing how these processes affect wider understandings of citizenship and belonging. A comparative reading is used to identify recurring patterns as well as context-specific political expressions across the region. Religion emerges as a constitutive element of legitimacy and nationhood rather than a secondary cultural variable. Religious nationalism therefore operates as both a source of political cohesion and a mechanism of boundary-making that can constrain pluralism and deepen exclusion. The article contributes to the field by offering a regionally grounded framework for understanding how religion and nationalism interact in the production of political order in Southeast Asia.
Jun 04, 2026Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)religion, nationalism, identity politics, Southeast Asia
Digital Fatwa Regionalism in ASEAN: Platform Governance, Religious Authority, and Cross-Border Moral Circulation
Khampheng Souvannavong
Religion has become increasingly entangled with digital communication and regional politics in Southeast Asia. Across ASEAN, moral claims now travel through social media platforms, online sermons, influencer networks, and digitally amplified controversies, making religious authority more visible across borders than in earlier phases of regional interaction. The purpose of this article is to explain how platform-mediated religious authority generates cross-border regional effects without depending on formal legal integration or treaty-based governance. The article applies a qualitative, theory-building design grounded in constructivist regionalism and digital religion scholarship. It uses a comparative case approach focused on Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore in order to examine variation in religious authority, regulatory capacity, and governance style across different national settings. Empirical materials are drawn from policy documents, public statements, platformed religious debates, media reports, and secondary academic literature on Islam, governance, and digital publics in Southeast Asia. The analysis is organized around four mechanisms: platformed authority, regulatory convergence, moral panic diffusion, and the translation of moral claims into market and security concerns. Cross-border circulation of fatwas and religious advisory claims contributes to a form of regional ordering in which platform visibility, administrative response, and public controversy shape one another across national boundaries. Digital fatwa regionalism therefore demonstrates that religion can function not only as a source of tension, but also as a medium of legitimacy, policy coordination, and regional problem framing in ASEAN. The article contributes to the study of regionalism by showing how digitally mediated moral authority produces governance effects beyond Eurocentric models centered on formal institutions.
Jun 04, 2026Vol. 1 No. 1 (2026)religion, governance, authority, regionalism
