The Duck of Minerva

Peter Henne

Peter Henne is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont. His research focuses on global religious politics and the Middle East. His first book, Islamic Politics, Muslim States and Counterterrorism Tensions, was published in 2017 by Cambridge University Press and he is currently working on a book analyzing how states try to use religion in foreign policy. His scholarly research has been published in International Journal of Religion, International Studies Perspectives, Journal of Church and State, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Politics and Religion, Religions, States and Societies, and Terrorism and Political Violence. In addition to the Duck, he has written for the Washington Post's Monkeycage, Political Violence at a Glance and The Huffington Post.

Recent Posts

The frustrating wisdom of Pope Francis’ international mediation

The frustrating wisdom of Pope Francis’ international mediation

by Peter Henne | 21 April, 2025 |

I was born a proud Protestant. A Lutheran in a town still marked by Catholic-Protestant tensions, with Catholic friends who told me I don't worship right, neighbors who claimed Catholics were polytheists, and a grandmother who wore orange on St. Patrick's Day (I never quite got that, as we had no connection to Ireland). But I also felt drawn to the Roman Catholic church. As I read more theology and myth in college, I appreciated the mysteries in Rome's ancient traditions. Graduate school at the Jesuit Georgetown University made me appreciate how Catholics applied their faith to the world. I...

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O Canada/Ô Canada: A defense of Canada in international affairs

O Canada/Ô Canada: A defense of Canada in international affairs

by Peter Henne | 15 January, 2025 |

Things have been rough for Canada. It's engulfed in political turmoil, as Justin Trudeau steps down from leadership and the country braces for a contentious election. Incoming US President Donald Trump has decided to pick on the country, threatening ruinous (to both sides) tariffs and either claiming Canada is the 51st state or that he will make it so. The best that US liberals can do, however, is make jokes about wanting to be part of Canada. As a Canadophile living just south of the border, this has always been a frustration for me; many Americans see Canada as only an extension of their...

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Jimmy Carter’s legacy: a challenge to recognize and act on religion’s significance

Jimmy Carter’s legacy: a challenge to recognize and act on religion’s significance

by Peter Henne | 9 January, 2025 |

US President Jimmy Carter's funeral is being held today in Washington, DC at the National Cathedral. Since he passed away shortly after Christmas, tributes have abounded about a man once derided as a weak one-term President. After leaving the Presidency, however, he became a powerful voice for good, leading peacebuilding and election monitoring efforts, and supporting humanitarian projects like Habitat for Humanity. And, importantly to me, he combined his progressive values with his public faith in a way that makes many other liberal Christians--like this buttoned-up Lutheran turned...

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Another terrorful Christmas, this time for complex reasons

Another terrorful Christmas, this time for complex reasons

by Peter Henne | 23 December, 2024 |

As someone who studies terrorism and religion, I approach each Christmas with dread due to the possibility of terrorist attacks around the holiday. A string of bombings hit churches in Indonesia and the Philippines in 2000, killing over 40. In 2016, someone drove a truck through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing a dozen. And just a few weeks ago, German police foiled an attempted attack on a Bavarian Christmas market. Each of these involved Islamist extremists, either organized through al-Qaeda or ISIS or lone radicalized individuals. While we rarely got a full manifesto, it is...

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Does this mean Assad would have fallen ten years ago?

Does this mean Assad would have fallen ten years ago?

by Peter Henne | 10 December, 2024 |

Like many who follow the Middle East, a lot has been going through my head since the civil war there suddenly reignited and Bashar al-Assad's regime even more suddenly fell. Will the victims of his persecution now get justice? Will this weaken Russia and Iran in the region? Is the Islamist group that's now in charge, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as moderate as they claim? Will this make things worse for the Middle East's already beleaguered Christians? One question that keeps coming to the fore for me, however, has to do with US foreign policy discussions about ten years ago. The civil war was...

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Who is behind the terrorist attack in Ankara?

Who is behind the terrorist attack in Ankara?

by Peter Henne | 24 October, 2024 |

On October 23rd, militants attacked a Turkish aerospace facility near the capital of Ankara. The Turkish government blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)--a Kurdish insurgent group--and launched retaliatory airstrikes. It is very plausible that the PKK is behind this, given the group's history. But the group has also tellingly not claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Turkish government has an incentive to blame the group. Thankfully, terrorism studies scholars have looked into whether and when groups claim attack, and that may give us some insight into what happened here. The...

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Was the Trump shooting terrorism?

Was the Trump shooting terrorism?

by Peter Henne | 15 July, 2024 |

The implications of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump over the weekend remain unclear. Will it lead him to strike a more conciliatory tone during the upcoming Republican National Convention? Will it make more Americans sympathize with him? And then there are the questions of what led to the shooting. Why did this individual try to kill Trump? These questions were intensified by the news that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating the incident as domestic terrorism. It is too early to conclusively determine why this happened--and we may never know as the...

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Eurovision suggests both sides on Israel-Palestine need to invest in some public diplomacy

Eurovision suggests both sides on Israel-Palestine need to invest in some public diplomacy

by Peter Henne | 13 May, 2024 |

Last year I was on a sabbatical in Edinburgh, and my family and I watched Eurovision for the first time. We loved the out-there electro-pop versions of local folk music, got bored by the slow ballads, and generally bought into the hype. This year, we were excited to discover it was streaming for US audiences on Peacock, and watched again. I assumed there would be some tensions over Israel's participation, and was right. There were protests both outside and inside the concert hall against Israel's contestant. I thought this might lead Israel to do badly in the contest. Surprisingly, I was...

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Israel protesters may be missing their best opportunity to help Gaza

Israel protesters may be missing their best opportunity to help Gaza

by Peter Henne | 9 May, 2024 |

Even though the school year is ending, protests against Israel--most prominent on college campuses--will likely continue. Beginning at Columbia University, they gained attention and spread after a heavy-handed police response. Prompted by the Israeli attack on Gaza (retaliation for Hamas' attack on Israel), student protesters are calling on their universities to take action in opposition to Israel such as divestment from companies that do business in Israel. Much of the debate has focused on the protesters themselves. Are they protected free speech? Are they anti-Semitic? Are they driven by...

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On Israel-Palestine, don’t ignore grassroots efforts at peace

On Israel-Palestine, don’t ignore grassroots efforts at peace

by Peter Henne | 18 March, 2024 |

I recently submitted the below letter to Foreign Affairs in response to their latest issue's set of essays on Israel-Palestine peace. They decided not to run it, and I assume that's because of all the letters they get. However, I worry that we ignore the small-scale peace efforts that may be the best way to advance peace (or see them as problematic) so I wanted to post it here and try to make the case for them. My letter to Foreign Affairs To the editor,             I commend Foreign Affairs for the set of essays in the March/April 2024 issue exploring whether and how peace is still possible...

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