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Series: The Russian Orthodox Church Beyond Russia: Global Pretensions and Security Concerns

by Thomas Bremer, Pavlo Smytsnyuk, Regina Elsner, Kristina Stoeckl, Alar Kilp, Sebastian Rimestad, Robert C. Blitt, and Nadieszda Kizenko

This series scrutinizes the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in three overlapping contexts: ROC pretensions to the leadership of the Orthodox world, the ROC as a global conservative force, and the ROC as a supporter and tool of Russian geopolitical ambitions. Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine has significantly affected all three contexts. And it has deepened and intensified conflicts between the ROC and the Ecumenical Patriarchate and its allies as well as the split in global Orthodoxy generally. …

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FoRB Podcast: Qur’an Burning Cases

by Dmytro Vovk, Merilin Kiviorg and Ed Brown

The first episode of the FoRB Podcast. Dmytro Vovk and Merilin Kiviorg invited Ed Brown from Oslo-based Stefanus Alliance International to discuss Qur’an-burning cases in Scandinavian countries and beyond. They touched on state responses to Qur’an burning and goals of religious and anti-religious expressions, Pussy Riot songs and Buddha statues, capitalist logic behind religious tolerance and criminalization as not the best way to protect religious minorities from anti-religious speech.

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On 21 December 2020, the General Assembly of the United Nations, during its 75th plenary session, established that 4 February be dedicated as an annual International Day of Human Fraternity. The U.N. resolution recognizes the contribution of people of all religions or beliefs to humanity and the importance of promoting inter-religious and intercultural dialogue “to enhance peace and social stability, respect for diversity and mutual respect and to create, at the global level, and also at the regional, national and local levels, an environment conducive to peace and mutual understanding.”

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On 1 January 2024, the Israeli Supreme Court in its longest-ever judgment struck down a highly controversial law passed by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in its attempts to limit the judicial branch. Bar-Ilan University Professor Ori Aronson comments on the main issues of the case, explains the role in this decision of the October 2023 deadly Hamas attack on Israel, and elaborates on whether the government and the right-wing coalition in the Knesset will respect it.

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Human Dignity Initiative

Celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with an invitation to a global conversation about preserving and protecting human dignity for everyone everywhere.

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