Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative

This program is currently on pause in order to rethink its focus and reimagine its future.

Violent conflicts and mass displacement impact billions of lives worldwide. In many places these dynamics remain unresolved despite decades of well-intentioned action and analysis. Examining the profound and often hidden ways that religion can promote or hinder a just peace provides fresh insight into these seemingly intractable challenges and expands our approaches to resolving conflict.

Whether or not a conflict is perceived as “religious," the role of religion is almost always present, yet often misunderstood. Those seeking to understand and working to solve conflicts must recognize the foundational influence of religion within deeply complex contexts, especially in relationship to structural injustice. Far more than ritual practice, symbols, and leaders, religion shapes cultures and systems. It defines values, worldviews, and people’s notions of belonging. In doing so, it also reveals the role of human agency in shaping and resolving conflict. This approach helps us reconsider "inevitable" outcomes and discover what committed action can transform. 

The Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative (RCPI) brings the full resources of Harvard to empower scholars, students, the general public, and professionals in a wide variety of fields to address the most complex conflicts facing the world today. RCPI breaks new ground in conflict transformation using a robust understanding of the power of religion in human experience and contemporary global affairs.