New Approaches to Engaging Religion in U.S. Foreign Policy

New Approaches to Engaging Religion in U.S. Foreign Policy

The importance of understanding the way that religion relates to and impacts U.S. foreign policy has become increasingly apparent, especially over the past decade. The most recent testament to this is the adoption of a policy for Strategic Religious Engagement by the U.S. Agency for International Development in 2023. But how must consideration of religion on and in U.S. foreign policymaking adapt to new global dynamics and challenges?

The New Approaches to Engaging Religion in U.S. Foreign Policy project brings together policymakers, leading scholars on religion, and activist-practitioners who work at the intersections of religion, foreign policy, and human rights activism. It aims to convene constructive conversations about the challenges of engaging religion in contemporary policymaking, including interrogation of normative assumptions and presumed binaries, as well as to provide a space in which participants can share best practices, innovative approaches to religious engagement, and examples of successful interventions at the intersection of religion and foreign policy.

This project originated with the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University in early 2022 and was taken up by the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University, with support from the Religion and Public Life Program at Harvard Divinity School, in 2023. Seeking to leverage the collective body of research and public engagement supported by the Henry Luce Foundation’s Initiative on Religion in International Affairs over 15 years, it will map the new terrain of issues and challenges in religion and international affairs confronting U.S. policymakers today. The project comprises three workshops/events, the first of which took place in spring 2022 and was organized by the Religion and Public Life Program at Harvard Divinity School. These three gatherings focus on:

The current domestic and international interface of religion and public life, which took place virtually on February 24 and 25, 2022;
Defining success and the future of religious engagement in U.S. foreign policy, to be held at Georgetown University in summer 2024;
A final report and briefing, drafted by Berkley Center Research Fellow Susan Hayward, aimed at policymakers, practitioners, and funders, to be distributed in fall 2024.

Additionally, the project collaborates with workshop participants to produce complementary articles, podcasts, and short video interviews.

This project is made possible by the Henry R. Luce Foundation’s Initiative on Religion in International Affairs.