Moral Sources and Political Limits: Religious Ethics, Humanitarianism, and National Interest
A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 322
Special Issue Editors
Interests: religious and cultural identity; international relations; nationalism; ideology studies; political theologies
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
This Special Issue examines the relationship between moral sources, humanitarian action and national interest as a structured ethical–political sequence in international affairs. It begins from the premise that ethical responses to humanitarian need are shaped by deeper moral sources, with particular attention to the complex intersection of religious traditions and non-religious frameworks such as political ideologies, culturally embedded practices and historically derived moral assumptions.
Religious ethical traditions have played a formative role in shaping humanitarian imagination and institutional practice, even as humanitarianism has become a professionalised and often secular domain. At the same time, humanitarian action operates within political systems structured by state sovereignty and national interest, which impose limits on ethical action while also providing frameworks of responsibility and authority.
This Special Issue explores how religious and non-religious moral sources inform humanitarian responses and how these responses interact with the political imperatives of national interest. National interest is treated not as a moral failure, but as a governing logic that defines the ethical limits and responsibilities of state action. Critiques of sovereign interests are welcomed within this integrative framework, with the aim of generating fresh perspectives beyond dominant approaches that presuppose the moral illegitimacy of the state.
The Special Issue aims to bring together scholars of religion, ethics, humanitarianism and international affairs to examine how moral authority is generated, translated into practice and constrained by political realities in national, regional and global contexts.
Contribution Types Encouraged:
* Conceptual and theoretical analyses
* Genealogical or historical studies
* Empirical case studies (state, NGO, religious actor, crisis-based)
* Comparative or cross-tradition analyses
We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarising their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor Professor John Rees (John.Rees@uts.edu.au) and Dr. Marianne Rozario (marianne.rozario@stmarys.ac.uk), or to the Assistant Editor Ms. Evelyn Zeng (evelyn.zeng@mdpi.com) of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. John A. Rees
Dr. Marianne Rozario
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- religious ethics
- humanitarianism
- national interest
- foreign policy
- moral sources
- state sovereignty
- international norms
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