Peter Mandaville is a senior advisor for USIP’s religion and inclusive societies team. 

He brings 25 years of academic, think tank and government experience focusing on the intersection of religion, international affairs and the Muslim-majority world. At USIP, he leads an initiative focused on the security and peacebuilding implications of religion in the external relations of great powers — with a particular focus on the Western Balkans, Ukraine, China and India.

From 2011-2012, Mandaville was a member of the U.S. State Department’s policy planning staff, where he was involved in shaping the U.S. response to the Arab Spring. From 2015-2016, he served as a senior advisor in the Office of the Secretary of State, where he helped set up the new Office of Religion and Global Affairs. Previous affiliations have included the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Pew Research Center.

Mandaville is the author of the books “Islam & Politics” and “Transnational Muslim Politics: Reimagining the Umma,” in addition to several co-edited books, numerous journal articles, book chapters, op-eds and commentary pieces in outlets such as Foreign Affairs, the International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, The Atlantic Online and Foreign Policy.

He has testified multiple times before Congress on topics such as political Islam, U.S. counterterrorism policy and human rights in the Middle East. His previous research has been supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Social Science Research Council, the British Council and the Henry Luce Foundation.

In addition to his role at USIP, Mandaville is also a professor of international affairs in the Schar School of Policy and Government and the director of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies, both at George Mason University. He is also a senior research fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
 

Publications By Peter

The U.S. Strategy for International Religious Engagement: 10 Years On

The U.S. Strategy for International Religious Engagement: 10 Years On

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

By: Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.;  Julia Schiwal

In 2013, the United States adopted its first ever “National Strategy on Integrating Religious Leader and Faith Community Engagement into U.S. Foreign Policy.” This White House strategy acknowledged the significant contributions of religious leaders and faith communities to human rights, global health and development, and conflict mitigation; and provided an interagency blueprint for integrating more robust engagement with religious actors across a broad range of foreign policy and national security issues. A decade later religious engagement remains a vital but underdeveloped capacity in U.S. foreign policy, and the strategy’s 10th anniversary offers a natural opportunity to revitalize strategic thinking and spur new action on this agenda.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Religion

The Latest: Three Things to Know About Religious Engagement in U.S. Foreign Policy

The Latest: Three Things to Know About Religious Engagement in U.S. Foreign Policy

Wednesday, May 3, 2023

By: Shaun Casey;  Kirsten Evans;  Capt. Wayne MacRae;  Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.

To ignore religious views and leaders in U.S. foreign policy would be to ignore a major part of what shapes societies, as religious actors often act as an anchor for communities and occupy a position of trust and influence. In recognition of this, the White House released the first-ever national strategy on religious leader and faith community engagement in U.S. foreign policy in 2013. A decade later, USIP gathered some of the key players who contributed to the strategy to reflect on the importance of long-term U.S. religious engagement abroad, lessons learned from the last decade and why relationships with religious actors are not just good for U.S. national security, but for global security more broadly.

Type: Blog

Religion

A New Approach for Digital Media, Peace and Conflict

A New Approach for Digital Media, Peace and Conflict

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

By: Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.;  Julia Schiwal

Discussions about the negative effects of online communication on society — including its potential to contribute to violent conflict — tend to focus primarily on misinformation and disinformation. The former refers to factually incorrect information that manages to reach audiences at scale, whereas the latter refers to inaccurate information that is spread deliberately and malignantly by some actor or agent in order to produce specific perceptions and outcomes in physical or digital space.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Conflict Analysis & Prevention

Common Ground on International Religious Freedom Enhances U.S. National Security

Common Ground on International Religious Freedom Enhances U.S. National Security

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

By: Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.;  Knox Thames

Religious freedom, like other human rights, is strongly correlated with political stability — and repression of religion or belief can serve as a major driver of conflict and violence. Around the world today, we see discrimination against or targeting of religious minorities associated with rising social tensions, intercommunal strife, violence and even mass atrocities. Muslims in India, Rohingya in Myanmar, Uyghurs in China, Yazidis in Iraq, and Christians in Pakistan: all are subject to forms of violence that have corollary effects on broader prospects for peace and stability in their respective contexts.

Type: Analysis and Commentary

Religion

Maintaining International Religious Freedom as a Central Tenet of U.S. National Security

Maintaining International Religious Freedom as a Central Tenet of U.S. National Security

Monday, October 17, 2022

By: Knox Thames;  Peter Mandaville, Ph.D.

In 2021–22, USIP’s Religion and Inclusive Societies Program convened a bipartisan working group of advocates, academics, and former government officials to discuss how the United States can advance global peace and stability by embracing international religious freedom as a major pillar of its diplomatic engagement. This report, written by the working group’s co-chairs, examines the history of the US commitment to international religious freedom and the challenges to ensuring that it remains a central tenet of US foreign policy and national security.

Type: Special Report

Religion

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