Finnish Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, hosts roundtable discussing the role of religious and traditional peacemakers, 5 June 2023

On 5 June 2023, Forward Thinking was invited by the Finnish Foreign Minister, Pekka Haavisto, for a roundtable discussing the role of religious and traditional peacemakers. The discussion was held in the tranquil surroundings of Königstedt Manor.In Oliver McTernan's opening address, he discussed the evolution of Western secular political thinking and how too often it can deem religion as irrelevant in the search for peaceful solutions to conflicts. The tracker of major conflicts worldwide, produced by the Council on Foreign Relations’ Center for Preventive Action, suggests that out of the current twenty-four conflicts, fifteen – over 60% – have a religious dimension.Jordan Morgan shared his experiences working with diverse religious protagonists in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including US evangelicals, Jewish scholars, and Islamic scholars. He highlighted the positive contributions of religious leaders in finding peaceful resolutions and emphasized that while religion can frequently complicate the search for a political solution, any meaningful process requires a theological underpinning to avoid the risk of derailment by religiously inspired protagonists.The discussion was rich and a broad range of perspectives were shared from diverse participants. We look forward to continuing this important conversation with the Finnish Foreign Ministry.