Sacred Statecraft - When Religion Shapes Foreign Policy

Diplomacy and International Relations · Jun 12, 2026 · 40m

What happens when states stop treating religion as background noise and start using it as foreign policy infrastructure? In this episode, Bastian breaks down four case studies — Morocco, Russia, the United States, and Nigeria — where theology isn't just decorating the statecraft, it is the statecraft. The rational calculus of traditional diplomacy doesn't survive contact with a divine mandate.f this episode made you think differently about what's actually driving the headlines, the best thing you can do is tell someone. Share it with a colleague who still thinks religion is just a cultural…