CSIS Reports

This important and timely study, Faith in the Balance: Regulating Religious Affairs in Africa, provides unique insights into how five governments on the African continent do just that: manage the politics of religion and the role of religion in politics. The study looks at each case—Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, and Burkina Faso—from the perspective of the state, complementing work that has explained religious organizations and belief systems as they relate to the state, seeking to address grievances, or to access resources and security. One important insight from the various cases is the centrality of politics and power relationships, more than doctrinal theological debates, in shaping the state-religion interactions.