February 26, 2010
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs released its task force report, Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy, on February 23 in Washington D.C. at Georgetown University. The Chicago Council convened a task force of 32 experts and stakeholders – former government officials, religious leaders, heads of international organizations, and scholars – to bring a diverse perspective to the debate over how to successfully engage religion on an international level.
Religious communities are central players in the counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan, development assistance, the promotion of human rights, stewardship of the environment, and the pursuit of peace in troubled parts of the world. The success of American diplomacy in the next decade, the Council says, will be measured in no small part by its ability to connect with the hundreds of millions of people throughout the world whose identity is defined by religion. “The challenge before us is to marginalize religious extremists, not religion,” the report concludes.
The report finds the key challenge for America internationally is to “understand the role of religion in world affairs and to constructively engage with religious communities around the world.” “Religion has played a negative role in U.S. foreign policy in the past, especially in relations with the Muslim world,” notes Thomas Wright, executive director of studies for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and the report’s project director. But since President Obama’s historic speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009, with its promise to engage with Muslim communities, the “United States has greatly improved its capacity to understand religious dynamics in world affairs,” Wright said. The report notes the Cairo speech “set the stage for a new departure in U.S. foreign policy toward Muslim communities” but “the scope must be much broader.”
The task force report, presented to the White House this week, says it takes the next step in developing a strategy to engage religious communities of all faiths in addressing foreign policy challenges.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.