GOVT 425
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MIDTERM ESSAYS INSTRUCTIONS
You will write 2 essays on separate topics and submit them as 1 assignment. For each essay, you
will write a 2–3-page research-based paper in current APA format. Each essay must include 5–7
references in addition to the course textbook and the Bible. This assignment will be submitted
through a SafeAssign link in Blackboard.
Other guidelines:
A Other guidelines:
All sources used in the paper must be properly cited and referenced. This includes:
o In-text citations for facts, statistics, information, and examples presented using the
author/date (author date, page number) format
The page number is required when a direct quote is used
o A Reference List or Bibliography, on a separate page, at the end of the paper
Note: the date of access is required for all web sources
o The use of footnotes is acceptable for the inclusion of supplemental material and
long quotes. Make sure that it is properly cited and referenced.
Note: The inclusion of Christian perspectives or opinions are part of your graded
assignment. Make sure that these are integrated in a coherent manner that fits the overall
tenor of your analysis.
When writing each paper, be sure to integrate material (cited and referenced) from all of
the readings assigned for that module. This demonstrates that you read, understood, and
are able to apply the week’s materials. Moreover, it is a graded component for each
paper.
Grace: You will have a considerable amount of freedom regarding writing style for each
essay, but write clearly and reflectively.
Essay #1 Instructions: Religion as a Factor in USFP (US Foreign Policy)
Watch the presentations “Exploring Religion and US Foreign Policy” in the Reading & Study
folder of Module/Week 1 and “The Future of Religious Pluralism in the Middle East” in the
Reading & Study folder of Module/Week 2.
After viewing these presentations, consider the following prompts in any order you choose to
organize your answer:
What is the basic problem with making religion a relevant factor in USFP? For example,
why do you think religious freedom agendas are not a top USFP priority? Or, differently,
why does America cultivate close strategic relationships with nations like Saudi Arabia
that foster an extremely intolerant form of Islamic belief and practice?
What seem to be the main obstacles to making religious values (Christian or other) of
foreign nations the basis for the conduct of USFP? In other words, why can American
Christians not simply demand that their government coerce foreign powers to accept its
version of religious freedom as a condition of any alliance?
Essay #2 Instructions: “Clash of Civilizations” or Muddleheaded Mush?
GOVT 425
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Read Huntington’s article, “Clash of Civilizations,” and watch the presentation “Clash of
Civilizations” in the Reading & Study folder of Module/Week 2.
After reading the article and viewing the presentation, consider the following prompts in any
order you choose to organize your answer:
In no more than 1 paragraph, summarize Huntington’s argument.
In another 1–2 paragraphs, defend Huntington’s argument’s plausibility or rational
defensibility. Why does he believe that the organization of conflict will increasingly
follow cultural-religious divisions?
In the remainder of the essay, critique the article. What are its shortcomings, weaknesses,
gaps, or faulty assumptions? Hint: Think about key US allies around the world. Are they
exactly like America ethnically, culturally, and religiously?
Running head: MIDTERM ESSAYS 1
Midterm Essays
Name
Institution
MIDTERM ESSAYS 2
Midterm Essays
Essay 1: Religion as a Factor in USFP
Foreign Policy
At the top of the U.S. Foreign policy are trade and national security agendas. Religious
freedom does not feature anywhere. Religion does not feature anywhere in America’s foreign
policy (Tayob, 2018, 146). This is despite the foreign policies of the countries that America
interacts with, having been based on their religion. America engages many actors or sectors in
making its foreign policy, but it leaves out religious actors. America does this to respect the
religious diversity that the country has (Arnon, 2018, 573). America is a multi-religious country.
The freedom to worship of all people is valued. It is impossible to engage religious actors from
diverse religions. The basic problem with making religion a relevant factor in USFP is that it
would undermine the country’s religious tolerance.
Religious Freedom
The United States takes pride in religious freedom. All religions in the country are
protected. No religion is considered to be superior to the other. Particularly, religion is protected
under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. According to this clause, the
government should not take a position on religious matters (Jacobs, & Page, 2005, 107).
Moreover, the government should not promote any religion. This clause is the foundation of
religious pluralism in America. This cultivates religious tolerance in the country. In this regard,
discussing religion as an agenda in America’s foreign policy is quite sensitive (Tayob, 2018,
147). Given the religious diversity in the country, the diplomats avoid engaging in religious
matters. This is so that not to be seen as if they are promoting a certain religion in America.
Certainly, it is not possible to bring on board representatives from all the religions in America.
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Their religions are substantially different in terms of what they do and what they believe (Guth,
2012, 80). Integrating the religious practices of all religious groups would be hard. The
diplomats would end up taking the practice of a few religions. This would undermine religious
freedom in America. In this regard, the diplomats avoid going beyond national security matters.
America’s Strategic Relationships with Religious Intolerant States
Although America’s foreign policy does not talk about religion, America wants to spread
religious tolerance abroad. This is why it cultivates close strategic relationships with countries
that foster extremely intolerant Islamic beliefs and practices. In these countries, religious
violence is high. The government has taken sides by declaring a certain religion as the state
religion (Arnon, 2018, 571). To this effect, the government forces people to subscribe to the
official state religion. This breeds religious violence. The people who are not members of the
state religion are persecuted. In light of this, America establishes relationships with these
countries to institutionalize religious freedom. This would promote interfaith dialogue in these
states (Marsden, 2020, 261). Ultimately, this would end persecution and religious extremism in
the countries. America is a global proponent of peace. This is in line with its liberal ideologies.
Obstacles to Promoting Religious Values
Making the religious values of foreign nations the basis of conducting U.S. foreign policy
is not easy. There are many obstacles that the attempt to do this would face. The first obstacle is
the lack of a common agreement on what constitutes a religion. The definition of religion is
relative. In this regard, what is regarded as a religion in one country would be seen as a cult in
other countries. Before promoting a foreign nation's religious values, America needs first to
determine whether a particular religion is a superstition or a culture (Jenichen, 2019, 453). This
is not easy. America would be accused of perpetrating religious discrimination if it regards some
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religions as non-religions. Therefore, the issue of religion is quite sensitive. In some countries,
there is no clear boundary between culture and religion. Therefore, America would be promoting
the traditions of another country in the name of religious values. This would certainly lead to
cultural backlash. For example, witchcraft that is rampant in African countries cannot be called
religion (Gunn & Slighoua, 2011, 40). So, even by acknowledging religious freedom, this would
not be acceptable to America. The second obstacle is the bias of the state leaders. America would
end up taking the religion of the people in power as the main religion in the respective country.
The leaders would influence America’s choice in this. They would say that other religions are
cults. In this regard, America would end up promoting religious values that are for a few people.
Thirdly, some countries have a hybrid religion. People have multiple affiliations. In this regard,
people practice certain religions besides traditional rites. In such cases, identifying the religious
values of a state will be difficult. America may end up promoting their traditional rites or
practices.
Christian World View
People should accommodate the beliefs of one another. Fighting because of religious
diversity does not make sense. This is because all people are the same before the eyes of God.
Mathew 5:43 says that people should love their enemies and pray for them (KJV). In this
context, the enemies are those people having beliefs different from us. Bible does not say that
such people should be condemned. This means that God wants people to live tolerantly. By
respecting religious freedom, America is acting in accordance with this verse.
MIDTERM ESSAYS 5
References
King James Version
Gunn, T. J., & Slighoua, M. (2011). THE SPIRITUAL FACTOR: EISENHOWER, RELIGION,
AND FOREIGN POLICY. The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 9(4), 39–49.
Arnon, D. (2018). The Enduring Influence of Religion on Senators’ Legislative Behavior.
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 57(3), 567–584.
Jenichen, A. (2019). A Transatlantic Secular Divide? The Representation of Religion in E.U. and
U.S. Foreign Policy. Foreign Policy Analysis, 15(4), 451–469.
Tayob, A. (2018). The Representation of Religion in Religion Education: Notes from the South
African Periphery. Education Sciences, 8(3), 146.
Marsden, L. (2020). International Religious Freedom Promotion and U.S. Foreign Policy.
Religions (Basel, Switzerland ), 11(5), 260-267.
Guth, J. (2012). THE RELIGIOUS ROOTS OF FOREIGN POLICY EXCEPTIONALISM. The
Review of Faith & International Affairs, 10(2), 77–85.
Jacobs, L. R., & Page, B. I. (2005). Who Influences U.S. Foreign Policy? The American Political
Science Review, 99(1), 107-123.
Emory University. (2014, February 17). Exploring Religion and U.S. Foreign Policy. [Video
File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYatAiOtZQ.
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Essay 2: Clash of Civilizations
Huntington’s Argument
Huntington's argument is that a paradigm shift occurred, leading to the emergence of new
world order. This shift happened after the Cold War. The world had moved from a time when
distinctions between people were based on ideologies, economics, and politics. Now, the
distinctions between people are based on culture and civilizations (Huntington, 1993). In this
regard, the conflict will no longer be caused by ideological differences like the Cold War. The
future conflicts will be caused be caused by civilization and cultural differences. Huntington
argues that there are eight major civilizations. These civilizations are geographically separated.
They differed in terms of ideas, technology use, and time when civilization took place. The eight
civilizations are independent. During the Cold War, countries identified themselves on an
ideological basis (Haynes, 2019, 3). However, after the end of this war, ideologies were no
longer making sense. To find another identity, states started considering their ancestry, values,
and religion. These are aspects of the civilizations. In light of this, countries that share a
civilization or cultures came united. The unity was mainly in the form of regional blocks. Before
these other civilizations were recognized, Western civilization was everywhere. Countries
embraced it in the name of modernization. The civilizations that came forth started competing
with Western civilization. The non-west civilizations are uniting against the western
civilizations. Huntington calls this a clash of civilizations (Huntington, 1993, 22). He argues that
more civilizations will continue coming up. Subsequently, they will pursue a balance. If the
balance is not achieved, the civilizations will clash.
Plausibility of Huntington’s Argument
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The end of the Cold War ushered the world into an identity crisis. States would no longer
identify themselves as either aligned or non-aligned as they did before. This would force
countries to find new identities. Certainly, civilizations offer the most stable identity (Rafiqi,
2019). This would lead to a multi-polar world. In essence, the state would not want to have a
bipolar order like the one they had during the Cold War. This is because a bipolar order is full of
tension. Establishing an identity based on civilization is stable than binding an identity based on
race or ideology. This is because civilization considers many aspects of society. This includes
race, culture, religion, and geography, among others. Certainly, nothing would change all these
elements at one time. Thus, the civilizations will remain distinct at a time. An example of this is
western civilization. Huntington acknowledges despite the ideologies fading, the western
civilization remained powerful in the world. It had influenced many people and societies.
Civilizations are more influential than ideologies or race (Coury, 2016, 55). In light of this
realization, countries would start developing an identity based on what they have in common.
Certainly, this is what has happened. The regional organizations such as E.U., NAFTA, and
ASEAN are based on what the member states shares in common (Rafiqi, 2019, 700). Looking at
them from Huntington’s perspective, these regional groupings are attempts to build civilizations.
According to Huntington, civilizations clash as they interact. Essentially, this interaction is
competitive. Each civilization is trying to outdo the other. He says that mainly, the civilizations
would class as the non-western civilizations try to displace the western civilizations (Rizvi, 2011,
225). This is what is happening. The non-western civilizations are forming alliances to replace
the western values that were established by the western civilizations. This is not easy because
western values are deeply entrenched in many societies. Huntington believed that conflicts
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would follow cultural-religious divisions because culture and religions are the main elements of
civilization. The two make a civilization instinct from another.
Criticism
Huntington's argument tends to generalize that people having the same religion, culture,
and sharing geographical borders would be united to form a civilization. Subsequently, the unity
of various civilizations would cause conflict. This argument gap is that there are internal
divisions between cultures, religions, and states from a particular geographical area. This may
prevent them from coming up with a formidable civilization (Bazian, 2018, 283). For example,
Islamic civilization may not happen because there are numerous Islamic groups. Each group has
its own interests. Geographically, states have varying interests. In this regard, coming together to
form a civilization would be hard. Secondly, religious, cultural, and ethnic diversity is
increasing. In this regard, no country is having people from a certain religion, culture, or ethnic
group. This makes it hard to come up with a culturally or ethnically defined civilization in the era
of globalization (Russett, Oneal & Cox, 2016, 585). It is a faulty assumption that Western
civilization's declining power gives other civilizations an opportunity to rise. It could be that time
for civilizations having global influence has come to an end. If the civilizations and cultures'
usefulness has been outlived, it is not logical to say that future conflicts will be caused by
civilization and cultural differences. The world is becoming increasingly cosmopolitan. Thus,
cultures and civilizations may not have great significance in the future. Joe 3:2 says that God
shall pass the judgment against the people who scattered God's people (KJV). Therefore, God
does not want nations to fight one another.
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References
Bazian, H. (2018). Islamophobia, “Clash of Civilizations”, and Forging a Post-Cold War Order.
Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 9(9), 282-285.
Coury, D. (2016). A Clash of Civilizations?: Pegida and the Rise of Cultural Nationalism.
German Politics and Society, 34(4), 54–67.
Haynes, J. (2019). Introduction: The “Clash of Civilizations” and Relations between the West
and the Muslim World. The Review of Faith & International Affairs, 17(1), 1–10.
Huntington, S. P. (1993). The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 72(3), 22.
King James Version
Rafiqi, A. (2019). A Clash of Civilizations? Muslims, Christians, and Preferences for
Democracy. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 58(3), 689–706.
Rizvi, F. (2011). Beyond the Social Imaginary of “Clash of Civilizations”? Educational
Philosophy and Theory, 43(3), 225–235.
Russett, B.M., Oneal, J.R., & Cox, M. (2016). Clash of Civilizations, or Realism and Liberalism
Déjà Vu? Some Evidence. Journal of Peace Research, 37(5), 583–608.
Midterm Essays – Outline
Thesis Statement: The basic problem with making religion a relevant factor in USFP is that it
would undermine the country’s religious tolerance.
I. Essay 1: Religion as a Factor in USFP
A. Foreign Policy
i. At the top of the U.S. Foreign policy are trade and national security agendas
B. Religious Freedom
i. The United States takes pride in religious freedom
C. America’s Strategic Relationships with Religious Intolerant States
i. Although America’s foreign policy does not talk about religion, America wants to spread
religious tolerance abroad
D. Obstacles to Promoting Religious Values
i. Making the religious values of foreign nations the basis of conducting U.S. foreign policy
is not easy
E. Christian World View
i. People should accommodate the beliefs of one another
II. Essay 2: Clash of Civilizations
A. Huntington’s Argument
i. Huntington's argument is that a paradigm shift occurred, leading to the emergence of new
world order
B. Plausibility of Huntington’s Argument
i. The end of the Cold War ushered the world into an identity crisis
C. Criticism
i. Huntington's argument tends to generalize that people having the same religion, culture,
and sharing geographical borders would be united to form a civilization
