Retrospect: DialoguePerspectives meets the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy

On 13 October, our programme managers Rachel de Boor and Gil Shohat were invited to this year’s conference of the Transatlantic Policy Network for Religion and Diplomacy (TPNRD) in Berlin, which was organised in cooperation with our main donour, the German Federal Foreign Office.

The TPNRD, which was founded back in 2015, primarily comprises diplomats from various foreign services as well as representatives from academia from North America and Europe. The aim of this year’s meeting was, among other things, to further develop joint strategies on current global issues, such as the fight against Covid-19, peacebuilding and deepening cooperation between foreign ministries and academia on the topic of religion and foreign policy.

At the invitation of the Foreign Office, Rachel de Boor and Gil Shohat introduced and discussed the work of DialoguePerspectives to the members of the think tank and representatives of the world’s largest interreligious organisation, Religions for Peace, at an informal “World Café” in the Französische Friedrichsstadtkirche in the heart of Berlin, where they were able to expand the DialoguePerspectives-network for the further internationalisation of our programme.

We would like to thank Department 612 for Religion and Foreign Policy of the Federal Foreign Office, in particular Susanne Breuer, for the invitation to this event and look forward to further exchange with the TPNRD.