Religion and International Politics

In America, the only thing I know about international relations and religion is the war on terrorism and what i believe is Bush's Christianity and radical Islam. When ever I see the news on TV it seems as the world of international relations and religion is one of a cultural war. I have always thought that in international relations, all that matters is economics, the politics over economics, and war. But as I further watch the war on terror continue, i now strongly believe that international relations is also about religion and culture. In today's world, there seems to be a certain culture that each country has about religion and international relations. Certain countries like Vietnam, China, and India seem to have no care about religion and have certain mindset on economic development. This kind of culture seems to me, makes these countries do all they can avoid conflict. In other countries i see a culture to have all the care in the world about religion. In countries like the US and from the Middle East, it seems that they are either self-righteous in their religion and choose to act on that or they fear that if they do not so call "do God's work" they will suffer. Growing up in a non-religious family i understand why the Asian countries have such a culture, but for the culture of the other countries I will continue to study them.