Study title

This project examines the long term historical perspective of Protestant-Catholic conflict to contextualise current interest in religion as a major factor in international security. Indeed, local and regional tensions between Catholics and Protestants continue, notably in Ireland and the United States. Elsewhere Protestant-Catholic conflict declined or more positively, was resolved. The implications of this process for understanding and addressing other contemporary conflicts in which religion is implicated will be explored. The following specific tasks will be undertaken: Comparative analysis of anti-Catholic movements in the English-speaking world; Research on the role of religion in local sectarian conflict, in English cities and in Northern Ireland; A PhD thesis examining British perceptions of Roman Catholicism and national security between the mid-nineteenth and the mid-twentieth centuries; A symposium and collaborative book publication by a team of experts, providing an overview of Protestant-Catholic conflict since the Reformation; The compilation of an annotated on-line bibliography of relevant literature; A sole-authored book providing a synthesis of the work done, and exploring its implications for contemporary security concerns. The programme will culminate in 2012 with a series of seminars and a concluding conference in Belfast for both academic and non-academic stakeholders.