LISD convened the conference, “Religion and Development," June 4-6, 2009 in Vienna, Austria.  The meeting was the second annual international colloquium of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations. The event was held at at the Diplomatic Academy in Vienna, Austria and was co-sponsored by the Liechtenstein Institute in Vienna, Austria (LIVA).

Colloquium participants explored the increasingly complex role of religion and religious actors in contemporary international affairs. The conference brought together distinguished religious leaders, scholars, diplomatic practitioners and students from around the world for an interreligious,
interdisciplinary and intergenerational dialogue about development, social and political identity, and conflict resolution. A special session featured presentations by PORDIR fellows.

The 2009 colloquium continued discussions started at the 2008 PORDIR conference. At that meeting, participants focused on the influence of religion and religious beliefs in the conduct of international diplomacy, power politics, crisis and conflict management, and other activities of state and non-state actors. This 2008 meeting brought religious leaders, diplomatic practitioners, students and scholars from the US, Europe and the Middle East into conversation with one another. There were panels examining the interplay between religion and diplomacy from these three perspectives as well as a panel session in which PORDIR fellows presented their research.

LISD created the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International relations in 2007 in response to the undeniable role religion is currently playing in interstate and intrastate conflicts and aspects of international affairs. The program offers students and faculty at Princeton University the opportunity to study, reflect and generate ideas concerning the multiple intersections of religion, diplomacy and international relations. The project currently includes a student fellowship program, weekly seminar series, and public lecture series. The program is co-directed by Wolfgang Danspeckgruber and The Rev. Paul Raushenbush, Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University.