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The article attempts to identify & assess both the types of differentiation in patterns of church-state relationships across European space & the trends of change which have occurred across time. The central hypothesis to be tested is the claim advanced by some authors that contemporary trends can, when taken together, be seen to prefigure the emergence, in spite of differences, of a distinctive European common model -- one which is furthermore as different from that associated with the USA in the far West as it is from that of China in the far East. By contrast with those counterposed "Others" the emergent European model might, it is argued, be seen as an object of hope for the overcoming within Europe of the many tensions which have surfaced in connection with the recent steep resurgence of the religious factor in politics across the world. Charts. Adapted from the source document.

Religion is a major influence in the shaping of political organizations. The Catholic Church was a crucial factor in the development of the Portuguese Revolution & it is possible to use this case to build up a model of the action of the Church in political organization based on the separation between the institutions of the state & of the Church. Tables, Graphs, Appendixes. Adapted from the source document.

The statute of March 15, 2004, that banned religious symbols in the French schools & State high schools, was the last act of the Headscarf Affair which had been regularly returning to the limelight of the French political scene since 1989. The review of several recent sociological books devoted to the phenomena of islamization helps to buttress the main assumption of the article that the Affair is a symptom of a failing integration of the immigrants from the Muslim countries. These populations are disproportionately hit by social & economic marginalization while, at the same time, summoned to assimilate culturally. Dogmatic republicanism conceives of the assimilation as a necessary precondition for the political integration. In the situation of an increasing social exclusion, however, the push to assimilation adds a cultural offense to an economic injury & incites a contrary reaction: a proud self-assertion of the Muslim identity. The statute banning the headscarves only intensifies this vicious dynamic. The analyses in the reviewed books seem to lead to a different solution: a reasonable response would rather be to tolerate the expressions of religious distinctiveness while, at the same time, trying to integrate people of immigrant origins both economically & politically. This would require, however, a reconstruction of the French republicanism which -- at least in its dogmatic form -- does not distinguish between the cultural & political sides of integration. 9 References. Adapted from the source document.

Radical pan-Islamism is a serious threat to universal secularism, the central norm of international order since the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. International secularism rests on two principles: firstly, the organization of religion within states is subject to their sovereignty & not to supranational or transnational revolutionary movements, & secondly, religion must not determine the foreign policies & the alliances of the state. The resurgence of pan-Islamic radicalism since September 11, 2001 as a central issue in world politics challenges both principles. Adapted from the source document.

The issue of religious freedom is included in one of the greatest challenges faced by Beijing: human rights. In this article we will analyze China's approach towards international human rights' documents as well as its domestic perspective characterized by the reinforcement of sovereignty & rights of citizens & the manipulation of Law. In China, religion is a phenomenon that the government tries to control & repress in many ways. We have chosen to look at Catholicism because this is a religion that poses special challenges to Beijing & shows us how the human spirit is able to survive even in the most adverse conditions. Adapted from the source document.

When George W. Bush took office in 2000 he intended to scale back U.S. engagement in the Middle East. September 11 changed all of that. The "War on Terror" became the main priority of American foreign policy. Under that label the administration has followed an aggressive & determined course of action in the Middle East. Seven years later, the results of that strategy are, to say the least, controversial. Adapted from the source document.

In line with recent studies, this article argues that a party's attitude towards the European Union (EU) derives from its main ideological goal, which is primarily of a domestic character. The EU is evaluated on whether it contributes to achieve the party's main objective in domestic terms. For example, social democrats evaluate integration on its impact on the redistributive economic regime, nationalists on the impact on the sovereignty of the national political community. The article then investigates how enlargement changed the composition of the center of European party systems & argues that the decline of Christian democracy & the rise of nationalism after enlargement makes opposition to political supranationalism a characteristic of the center-right, while in the center-left social democrats, from East & West, have adopted a pro-European attitude. Adapted from the source document.

A sociedade israelense constitui um exemplo interessante de religião da política, ou seja, um exemplo de como a dimensão política de uma sociedade pode adquirir um aspecto religioso próprio, assumindo um caráter de sacralidade. No início da experiência sionista acentua-se em Israel a religião do trabalho, a construção de um calendário cívico, a formação de uma nova identidade nacional. A partir da metade dos anos 1970, outros fatores prevalecem: a memória da Shoah, a construção de lugares do martírio nacional, o mito da resistência até o último homem. Chama-se a atenção, neste ensaio, para os percursos de uma sociedade civil que sente a necessidade de reescrever os contornos de sua identidade e remodelar a memória pública, pensando em si mesma como comunidade nacional. ; Israeli society constitutes an interesting example of the religion of politics, that is, an example of how the political dimension of a society may acquire a religious aspect of its own and assume a sacred character. In the beginning of the Zionist experience, the religion of labor, the construction of a civic calendar and of a new national identity gained importance. From the mid 1970's on, other factors have prevailed. They are: memories from the Ha-Shoah, the construction of national martyrdom sites, and the myth of resistance until the last man. In this essay, the tracks taken by a civil society that feels the necessity of redefining the contours of its identity and remodeling its public memory, considering itself a national community, are emphasized.