Religious activism and international politics: Christian and Islamic fundamentalist anti-abortion networks and the United Nations

Much of the literature that has examined transnational actors' attempts to shape states' interests within international institutions portrays the international arena as a level-playing ground. Network theory posits that transnational actors participating in a network are horizontal. While the approach acknowledges that differences between Northern and Southern entities exist, it downplays the unevenness that has historically characterized North-South relations. To test network theory's robustness, this study examined the horizontal nature of networks. The study compared strategies and tactics used by Christian (U.S.) and Islamic (Egyptian) fundamentalist anti-abortion networks participating in three U.N. conferences in their attempts to shape states' interests in the abortion debate. The study's findings suggest contrary to network theory, transnational religious networks participating in U.N. conferences were unrepresentative. Northern actors not only dominated transnational networks but also were overrepresented in deliberations within U.N. conferences when compared to their Southern counterparts. Northern (religious fundamentalist) networks exerted influence in a variety of ways: by lobbying and providing expertise to national delegates; through Caucuses that mobilized allies and delegates; by acting as states' proxies and representing states in deliberations in which nonstate actors are excluded, and through media campaign efforts. Southern (religious fundamentalists) networks on the other hand used outsider strategies and primarily engaged in media campaigns. Because of their dominance in these arenas, Northern actors exerted greater influence in outcome documents, which largely reflected a Northern orientation. While Northern actors were effective in influencing outcomes in these conferences by participating within the U.N.'s institutional framework, Southern actors' participation "outside" the conferences' framework was ineffective in influencing the outcomes, although they influenced individual states' positions in one conference. The study, which obtained data through interviews with representatives of transnational religious networks, offers insight into transnational actors' agenda-setting efforts in U.N. conferences and sheds light on dimensions of influence in these arenas.