U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: the Outlook for 2010

Author: Thomas Farr

February 3, 2010

Berkley Center Senior Fellow Thomas Farr spoke at a February 3, 2010 congressional briefing focusing on the status and future of U.S. international religious freedom policy sponsored by Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Subcommitee on International Operations, Human Rights and Oversight. In his remarks Farr argues that America’s international religious freedom (IRF) policy “has not received the attention it warrants.” The promotion of international religious freedom is vital to the United States for human dignity, justice, and national security. IRF policy has been weak for many reasons, among them that it has not been integrated in any meaningful sense into U.S. foreign affairs, but instead it has been functionally and bureaucratically isolated. Its work has largely been reactive, often focusing on cases of persecution, rather than working with governments and civil societies to develop the political and social institutions that can yield religious liberty. Many of the problems that Farr identified can be solved, and he has put together recommendations for the Obama administration. He concludes by calling on the United States to reengage and reenergize its IRF policy.

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