Religion: A Missing Component of Professional Military Education PKSOI Paper | Page 17

more specifically, they must understand the religious
environments within which they will operate. In the
world today, conflicts possess a religious dimension.
Conflict and religion are historically linked. And,
that link is more complex than generally recognized.
Unfortunately, the focus of military conflict analysis
often falls on the divisive nature of religion ignoring its constructive attributes. Historical accounts of
religiously based violence abound, as do examples
of peace processes that flow from inspired religious
actors and religious institutions. Religiously inspired
conflict resolution is a growing, though still small,
sub-field of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). The
marginal nature of religion in PACS itself is curious,
considering how the field of study and practice grew
out of the peace churches. As the PACS field continues to define itself, religion will continue to present
itself as a vital dimension of study and practice. And,
religion will continue to inform our understanding of
conflict, conflict prevention, and conflict resolution.
The understanding of PACS vis-à-vis conflict and violence can be used to inform military awareness of the
many roles played by religion in intractable conflicts.
To better understand how religion informs conflict prevention and resolution it is useful to arrive at
a common understanding of conflict. The word, conflict, is so often used, to describe so much, it can often
communicate very little.
Conflict is the natural resource needed for social
change. Conflict is neither positive nor negative, it
simply is. The regular friction of social life manifests
itself as conflict at different levels; interpersonal, community, national, regional. From a western perspective, conflict is the condition that invites intervention.

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