1. Muhammad Hakim

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia

2. Sus Eko Z. Ernada

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia

3. Honest D. Molasy

Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, University of Jember, Jember, Indonesia

DOI: 

ABSTRACT 

This article investigates how religious soft power from the Global South is constructed through the engagement of Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) in the Religion of Twenty (R20) Forum, an interfaith platform related to the broader G20 ecosystem. While existing literature on soft power and norm entrepreneurship has mostly concentrated on Western, state-centric, and secular actors, the normative agency of Global South religious groups remains underexplored. Drawing on a qualitative case study of R20, this paper explores how religious principles are expressed, mobilised, and projected into international public diplomacy through interfaith summits, advisory communiqués, and persistent interaction with policy communities. The data reveal that NU wields religious soft power primarily through moral authority, ethical narratives, and transnational religious networks rather than through official political authority. Through R20, values such as moderation (wasatiyyah), tolerance (tasāmuh), ecotheology, interfaith cooperation, and humanitarian responsibility are systematically framed as universal ethical commitments in responding to contemporary global challenges, including extremism, environmental degradation, and social conflict. At the same time, the study reveals important institutional constraints shaping the reach of religious soft power, as R20 operates without formal decision-making authority within global governance structures and remains dependent on political support, project-based funding, and indirect access to official negotiations. The study contributes to soft power theory, norm entrepreneurship, and Global South international relations by demonstrating how postcolonial religious players increasingly engage as norm-shapers in global governance.

Keywords: International diplomacy; Global South; Religious soft power; Norm entrepreneurship; Public diplomacy; Nahdlatul Ulama (NU); Religion of Twenty (R20)