Midterm Essay #1
Religious freedoms are often neglected when it comes to foreign policy, particularly in
the United States. When religious freedom is focused on, it is typically in a humanitarian manner.
However, it is important that humanitarian efforts be coalesced with an understanding that
religion and religious freedoms have a major role in international affairs. Religious freedom
correlates directly with “civil liberties, political liberties, press freedom, longevity of democracy,
low levels of militarization and conflict, more physicians, and lower infant mortality” (Marshall,
2011). Religious freedoms also tend to have a direct correlation to a flourishing economy and
financial stability for more people (Marshall, 2011). So why are religious liberties and religion so
overlooked when it comes to foreign policy and politics?
As of 2016, there was a steady decline in the countries that had freedom of expression,
and only “thirty-sex percent of the world’s population lives in countries that are ranked as free”
(Lagon, 2016). The state of international religious freedoms is being continually overlooked and
violated, as governments across the world attempt to suppress their people’s freedoms. This is
most likely because many religious freedoms violations are disguised as other things. These
violations can be simple things “such as requirements for building permits (to establish/repair
places of worship) or less mundane, such as restrictions on association (constraining the right to
worship)” (Liben, pg. 1, 2017). Many restrictions on religious freedoms also tend to be done in
the name of keeping one’s country secure and fortified. The effects of this can be seen in
Bahrain, as the Bahraini government has been restricting the religious freedoms of the large
Shi’a Muslim population (Liben, pg. 1, 2017). This unfortunately did not deter the United States
when the decision was made to sacrifice humanitarian efforts in order to proceed with a
transaction of F-16 fighter jets and other weapons to Bahrain “in order to end a rift between the
United States and a critical Middle East ally” (Sanger & Schmitt, 2017).
In his presentation on religion and foreign policy, Shaun Casey remarks that religion
informs politics, which in turn informs policy. He goes on to talk about how oftentimes, people
believe that religion either poisons everything or religion cures everything, and how neither of
these simplistic lenses are true (Casey, 2014). One of the biggest obstacles the United States
faces when it comes to prioritizing religious freedoms in foreign policy is the issue with a black
and white religious mindset. International affairs are not simple, and thus foreign policy having
to do with religion will not be simple either. The United States has a deeply religious history
which President George W. Bush expounded upon in his second inaugural address in 2005.
Though times have changed since then, his statements regarding the “nation’s role in religious
terms” provide an example of the challenges with combining religion and foreign policy in the
United States (Judis, 2005). Bush made a pledge to continue to spread freedom during his
presidency and kept a “unipolar vision of the world” (Judis, 2005). In turn, this may have
affected his judgment when it came to the decision to enter and inhabit Iraq, as his administration
saw Saddam Hussein as an evil person. The Bush administration used religious mentalities such
as the apocalypse, to gather support for the occupation of Iraq and the consequential events that
followed this decision. Ultimately leading to more people—including the Palestinians—to
become even more marginalized and to have their religious freedoms suppressed even further
(Judis, 2005).
In order to push religious freedom and religion forward in foreign policy, it is important
to remember that all freedom is based in theology. For Christians, this means that freedom is
“based on a biblical theological understanding of man, imago Dei, who is endowed by his
Creator with certain inalienable rights” and it is for “this reason, freedom is primarily an inner
state, in which no external authority may exercise control over a person” (Wood, pg. 32, 1978).
However, not everyone in the world views freedom through a Christian worldview. According to
Shaun Casey in his presentation, the mission is to engage with people about their religious
beliefs and then make decisions about foreign policy based on a collective understanding of
religions around the world, so that religious freedoms can be furthered through foreign policy
(Casey, 2014). This can be done through constant learning and advising on foreign policy and
religion, finding ways to increase the capacity for religious engagement within the institutions of
the United States and looking into what kinds of religious engagements are effective or
ineffective (Casey, 2014). The issues of the world will continue on, but that is no excuse for the
neglect of religion in foreign policy and the disregard of the advancement of dignity through
religious freedom, for all people of the world.
References
Casey, Shaun. 2014. “Exploring Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy.” Emory University.
(February 17, 2014.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYatAiOtZQ&t=4s.
Doran, Andrew, Faith McDonnell, and David Saperstein. 2015. “The Future of Religious
Pluralism in the Middle East.” Council of Foreign Relations. (June 30,
2015). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwLGPOfGxW0&t=1992s.
Gjelten, T., McDonnell, F., Doran, A., & Saperstein, D. (2015, June). Preserving Religious
Pluralism in the Modern Middle East. Council on Foreign Relations.
https://www.cfr.org/event/preserving-religious-pluralism-modern-middle-east.
Judis, J. B. (2005, March 37). The Chosen Nation: The Influence of Religion on U.S. Foreign
Policy. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
https://carnegieendowment.org/files/PB37.judis.FINAL.pdf.
Lagon, M. P. (2016, July 13). The Global Decline in Freedom: Threats to U.S. Values and
Interests. Freedom House. https://freedomhouse.org/article/global-decline-freedom-threatsus-
values-and-interests.
Marshall, P. (2011, November 29). Why Religious Freedom Must be a Top Priority. By Paul
Marshall. https://www.hudson.org/research/8531-why-religious-freedom-must-be-a-toppriority.
Paul, L. (2017, April). Annual Report of The United States Commission on International
Religious Freedom.
https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/2017.USCIRFAnnualReport.pdf.
Sanger, D. E., & Schmitt, E. (2017, March 29). Rex Tillerson to Lift Human Rights Conditions
on Arms Sale to Bahrain. The New York Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/world/middleeast/rex-tillerson-bahrain-weaponssales.html.
Wood, J.E., Jr (1978), A Biblical View of Religious Liberty. The Ecumenical Review, 30: 32-
41. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1758-6623.1978.tb03498.x
Midterm Essay #2
In the Clash of Civilizations, Samuel Huntington seeks to answer questions about the
balance of power and international affairs, brought about by the end of the Cold War. His focus
was on answering the question of where the United States, or the Western world, fits into the
balance of power and international affairs. According to Huntington, the conflicts within
civilizations will stem from the conflicts “along the cultural fault lines separating these from one
another” (Huntington, 1993). His core argument is that cultural identity and culture play a major
role in influencing conflict configurations, bringing nations together, and disbanding the
international establishments of the world post-Cold War (Rammel, 2021). He also comments on
how the end of the Cold War brought about a major shift in the emphasis on culture and cultural
identity.
Huntington argues that the world has several key powers and civilizations that engage
with one another internationally (Mehrotra, 2015). He points out that the modernization process
is not necessarily what leads to the Westernization of other civilizations (Huntington, 1993). For
example, as countries become more modern because of industrialization, the Western culture is
not immediately merged into those countries’ cultures (Mehrotra, 2015). Huntington also makes
the argument that the rise of Islam has made Muslim civilizations less stable as a whole
(Ashford, 2017). He believes Islam encourages authorities to make political requests based on
religion and to prompt the younger generations to rise up with violence for religious causes.
Huntington also makes the case that the United States’ desire to dominate the world is the key
ingredient in the conflict the West has with Muslim civilizations (Halem, 108). Muslim countries
continue to grow stronger and develop confidence in their cultures, and yet the United States
continues to attempt to push Western culture upon these countries. Huntington argues that in
order for the United States to avoid conflict with Asian and Islamic civilizations, the West needs
to become more cooperative when it comes to issues like military, nuclear power, humanitarian
efforts, immigrants and refugees (Halem, 2018).
Though Huntington’s theories are “well grounded in philosophy and history, his empirical
evidence is surprisingly weak” (Ashford, 2017). Huntington mostly relied on indications from
events like the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the Persian Gulf (Ashford, 2017). The problem
with these conflicts, is that most of these wars happened within civilizations, not between
civilizations. The central cause in the Yugoslavia conflict was the “relationship between the two
biggest ethnic groups, the Serbs and the Croats” (Anderson, 1996). The Croatians and the Serbs
had differing opinions on the “common state” and the emphasis placed on Serbian nationalism
by President Milosevic (Anderson, 1996). Many of the conflicts in the world throughout the last
several years have been caused by internal forces and issues. For example, take the war in Syria.
Even before conflict began in Syria, the people were speaking up about the lack of human rights
and lack of political freedom from their government. Uprisings and demonstrations began to
occur in 2011, which were crushed by the government and ultimately led to “protests demanding
the president’s resignation” (BBC, 2019). The unrest continued to spread throughout Syria and a
civil war between “those who are for or against” President Assad broke out throughout the
country (BBC, 2019). Countries like Russia and Iran have since provided help to President
Assad, while the United States, the United Kingdom, Turkey have sided with the moderate rebel
groups (BBC, 2019). However, this conflict within the Muslim world began based on internal
factors, as well as the tensions between modernization and westernization.
Huntington’s arguments that future conflicts will be caused by opposition to Western
forces—military and financial—do help to explain why countries that share a similar culture may
be more likely to collaborate with one another and form alliances. Huntington’s largest flaws
throughout his essay, are his attempts to oversimplify extremely complicated and diverse culture
and power dynamics. Though Huntington’s “intermixing of political science with culture” was
thoroughly “thought provoking and seductive” most of his arguments and predictions ultimately
fall flat in today’s world (Rammel, 2021).
References
Anderson, D. (1996). The Collapse of Yugoslavia: Background and Summary. Department of the
Parliamentary Library, 14, iii-iv.
https://doi.org/www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/rp/1995-96/96rp14.pdf
Ashford, E. (2017, February 6). What We Get Wrong About the Clash of Civilizations. Cato
Unbound. https://www.cato-unbound.org/2017/02/06/emma-ashford/what-we-get-wrongabout-
clash-civilizations.
BBC. (2019, February 25). Why is there a war in Syria? BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35806229
Halem, S. C. & H. (2018, August 31). Clash of Civilizations-or Clash Within Civilizations? by
Seth Cropsey Harry Halem. https://www.hudson.org/research/14534-clash-of-civilizationsor-
clash-within-civilizations
Huntington, S. P. (1993). The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72(3), 22.
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.proquest.com
%2Fscholarlyjournals%2Fclash-civilizations%2Fdocview%2F1290356398%2Fse-
2%3Faccountid%3D12085
Mehrotra, Rajiv. 2015. “In Conversation – Late Samuel P. Huntington.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-tgVEz5xMU&ab_channel=RajivMehrotra
Accessed 02, 12, 2021
Rammel, A. (2021). Assessment of the Clash of Civilizations Debate. Center for Homeland
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Defense and Security. Retrieved from https://www.hsdl.org/?view&did=829733
