*Originally published in 2024 and preserved as part of our archive project.Get E-International Relations delivered to your inbox, free of charge. As you sign up, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support our work.

This article is part of the Buddhism and International Relations article series, edited by Raghav Dua.

Across the global landscape, one does not expect to see images of Buddhist monks training pro-junta militias in Asia or practitioners spewing hateful Antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric online – but such scenes are not uncommon in recent years. While largely seen as a compassionate and peaceful religion across the world, Buddhism is also a source of nationalism, extremism, and violence. This article will focus on Buddhist nationalism and extremism in Myanmar and North America.

To begin I’d like to provide a brief technical note, as while I see nationalism and extremism as separate in their aims, it is clear that the goals of Buddhists in both of the countries/regions depicted in this article are to maintain an idealized version of the Dharma (the teachings of the Buddha). By using the term Buddhist nationalism, I am referring to violence by individuals in predominantly Buddhist countries who are furthering and maintaining the religious identity of their state. Whereas, by using the term Buddhist extremism, I am referring to violence by largely (but not exclusively) Buddhist converts outside of Asia who feel that their personal and religious beliefs are being threatened. I argue that what unites both nationalism and extremism is a preservationist agenda, which seeks to prevent external influence from corrupting a religion that is seen as ‘pure.’

The first example or case study of Buddhist violence occurs in the Southeast Asian country of Myanmar. Along the lines of religious affiliation, Myanmar is a majority Buddhist country with roughly 88% of the population identifying as Theravada Buddhist, and with minority religions Christianity and Islam making up 6% and 4% of the population, respectively. The history of Myanmar in recent centuries has been tumultuous and often dominated by conflict, beginning with three consecutive Anglo-Burmese Wars (from 1824-1885) and British colonial occupation from 1824 to 1948. More recent years have seen a military coup d'état wrestle........

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