FACULTY LEADER
Thomas Farr
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
March 2011
October 2010
June 2010
RELATED EVENTS
April 29, 2011
March 1, 2011
February 24, 2011
RECENT MEDIA
CENTER NEWS
February 8, 2012Presidential Candidate Rick Santorum Signs Religious Freedom Pledge Drafted by RFP Director Tom Farr
February 8, 2012
Jose Casanova Giving Ensign Lecture at Yale
February 7, 2012
Katherine Marshall at the UN for World Interfaith Harmony Week
February 6, 2012
Fitchburg State University Invites RFP Scholar Monica Duffy Toft for International Studies Speaker Series
February 3, 2012
Katherine Marshall Blogs: Women at Risk in an Unequal World
February 2, 2012
Research on Forgiveness Begins in Uganda for RFP Scholar Daniel Philpott
February 1, 2012
Call for Applications: Education and Social Justice International Summer Research Fellowships 2012
February 1, 2012
Catholic News Agency Quotes RFP Director Tom Farr on the Obama Administration's Stance Towards Religious Freedom
January 30, 2012
Taking Women and Religion Seriously: Intersecting Paths
January 27, 2012
Between Culture and Religion: The Case of Female Genital Cutting
January 23, 2012
RFP Scholar Will Inboden on the Obama Administration and Religious Freedom
January 10, 2012
Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedom Worldwide
Religion and US Foreign Policy
Both the practice and analysis of US foreign policy has traditionally marginalized religious questions. With the support of the Henry Luce Foundation, the Berkley Center explores the role of religion in US policy. This program gives special attention to issues of human rights and international religious freedom.
World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security
In his pathbreaking new book with Oxford University Press, the Center's Thomas Farr examines the opportunities and dangers facing US policymakers in advancing religious freedom around the world.
In his pathbreaking new book with Oxford University Press, the Center's Thomas Farr examines the opportunities and dangers facing US policymakers in advancing religious freedom around the world.
RELATED PROJECTS
> The International Religious Freedom Act: Ten Years Later
In October 1998 Congress passed, and President Clinton signed, the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA). The IRFA mandated the promotion of religious liberty around the world as a central element of American foreign policy. In 2008 three symposia at Georgetown examined the origins and promise (February 25), performance (April 21), and future (October 10) of IRF policy. Experts from across the spectrum of American public life—scholars, policymakers, activists, and journalists—as well as informed officials and observers from around the globe, addressed the strengths, the weaknesses, and the prospects of a policy designed to advance international religious freedom.
> Proselytism as a Policy Challenge
Proselytism is an increasingly important and controversial issue in international affairs -- and has not received the attention it deserves. In a globalizing world, governments and religious communities navigating the tensions between the rights of the individual to enter and exit religious communities and the rights of religious communities to defend and maintain their identity. The Proselytism as a Policy Challenge project will explore these issues through major conferences in spring 2010 and spring 2011. The first conference brought religious leaders together and focused on recent efforts to construct voluntary codes of conduct that distinguish between aggressive proselytism and permissible missionary work. The second will convene scholars working within religious studies, law, and political science with policymakers to discuss the democratic strategies for achieving cultural support and political protections for peaceful competition among religious communities.
Proselytism is an increasingly important and controversial issue in international affairs -- and has not received the attention it deserves. In a globalizing world, governments and religious communities navigating the tensions between the rights of the individual to enter and exit religious communities and the rights of religious communities to defend and maintain their identity. The Proselytism as a Policy Challenge project will explore these issues through major conferences in spring 2010 and spring 2011. The first conference brought religious leaders together and focused on recent efforts to construct voluntary codes of conduct that distinguish between aggressive proselytism and permissible missionary work. The second will convene scholars working within religious studies, law, and political science with policymakers to discuss the democratic strategies for achieving cultural support and political protections for peaceful competition among religious communities.
> Religion, Democracy, and US Diplomacy
This project explores the intersection of religion with US efforts to promote democracy around the world, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities facing the Obama administration. Key issues include: the role of religious communities in US democracy programs and policies; and the relationship of religion to democratic stability around the world; and how best to support democratic evolution in Muslim-majority societies, a key challenge in the wake of Obama's May 2009 Cairo speech. Project activities include two major conferences -- in fall 2009 and fall 2010 -- as well as the development of online knowledge resources that map key actors and issues.
This project explores the intersection of religion with US efforts to promote democracy around the world, with a focus on the challenges and opportunities facing the Obama administration. Key issues include: the role of religious communities in US democracy programs and policies; and the relationship of religion to democratic stability around the world; and how best to support democratic evolution in Muslim-majority societies, a key challenge in the wake of Obama's May 2009 Cairo speech. Project activities include two major conferences -- in fall 2009 and fall 2010 -- as well as the development of online knowledge resources that map key actors and issues.
> Religious Sources of Foreign Policy
The Project on the Religious Sources of Foreign Policy (2007-08) brought together thought leaders and policymakers to explore the practical challenges posed by the impact of domestic religious forces on international affairs. Through a series of symposia -- on Evangelicals and US foreign policy (March 2007); Islam, Constitutions, and Durable Democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan (September 2007); and on Religion in Israeli Society, Politics, and Foreign Policy (January 2008) -- the project examined the ways in which different national understandings of religion and its governance are impacting national foreign policies and international diplomacy. Each of the symposia led to a published report outlining the key issues and controversies.
The Project on the Religious Sources of Foreign Policy (2007-08) brought together thought leaders and policymakers to explore the practical challenges posed by the impact of domestic religious forces on international affairs. Through a series of symposia -- on Evangelicals and US foreign policy (March 2007); Islam, Constitutions, and Durable Democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan (September 2007); and on Religion in Israeli Society, Politics, and Foreign Policy (January 2008) -- the project examined the ways in which different national understandings of religion and its governance are impacting national foreign policies and international diplomacy. Each of the symposia led to a published report outlining the key issues and controversies.
> Foreign Policy Practitioners Interview Series
Religion is an increasingly important dimension of US foreign policy. Since the passage of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, issues of religious liberty have been incorporated into the mechanics of American diplomacy -- with mixed results. Berkley Center Senior Fellow Thomas Farr, a career diplomat and founding director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, is conducting a series of interviews with key foreign policy practitioners in this area. The focus is on their professional trajectory, the role of faith in their outlook, and their views of the challenges and opportunities facing US diplomacy into the future.
Religion is an increasingly important dimension of US foreign policy. Since the passage of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, issues of religious liberty have been incorporated into the mechanics of American diplomacy -- with mixed results. Berkley Center Senior Fellow Thomas Farr, a career diplomat and founding director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, is conducting a series of interviews with key foreign policy practitioners in this area. The focus is on their professional trajectory, the role of faith in their outlook, and their views of the challenges and opportunities facing US diplomacy into the future.
