League of Nations

Abraham Kuyper Overseas Manifesto
Abraham Kuyper’s Overseas Manifesto

While much has been made of Abraham Kuyper’s Calvinistic contributions to domestic political theory, very little (in English) has been said of his foreign policy.

Christian Influence on US Foreign Policy

Formal religious adherence is declining, but America’s longtime religious self-identity as a lodestar of democratic responsibility in the world continues unabashed.

1919: Wilson, the Covenant, and the Improbable League
1919: Wilson, the Covenant, and the Improbable League

Perhaps an insight from the character of Elrond in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, about the nature of our mortal lives, offers a measure of Christian realism in the face of Versailles: “And the Elves believed that evil was ended forever, and it was not so.”

Promise and Pluralism in Israel’s Nation-State Law
Promise and Pluralism in Israel’s Nation-State Law

The international community already decided almost 100 years ago that Israel can be the national home for the Jewish people while respecting non-Jews civil rights.

Resurrecting Woodrow Wilson: A Christian Critique of Liberal Internationalism
Resurrecting Woodrow Wilson: A Christian Critique of Liberal Internationalism

On January 8, 1918—one hundred years ago—President Woodrow Wilson mounted the rostrum of the House of Representatives, America’s inner sanctum of democracy, to deliver one of the most consequential speeches in history.

British and American Approaches to the Peace

Providence continues to look back at how American Christians thought through the challenges of World War II 75 years ago. In this article that Christianity & Crisis originally published on May 17, 1943, Henry P. Van Dusen proclaims that the postwar peace would rely on international consensus.

The Third Camp - Reinhold Niebuhr Theology and American Foreign Policy
The Third Camp: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Theology and American Foreign Policy

From the ashes of both Bryan’s ignoble isolationism and Wilson’s utopian universalism rose the school of Christian realism advocated by Reinhold Niebuhr.

Part 1: Protestant Roots of US Foreign Policy Divisions Michael Doran Mark Tooley FDR Teddy
Part 1: Protestant Roots of US Foreign Policy Divisions

The foreign policies of Teddy Roosevelt and his distant cousin Franklin D. Roosevelt represent an intersection between two different Protestant worldviews.

Why the League Failed
Why the League Failed: 13 Crippling Shortcomings

The much-maligned League of Nations experienced difficulties and shortcomings, which are visible in the functioning of the modern UN – and to a lesser extent, the International Criminal Court. George Stewart provides no less than thirteen reasons for the League’s failure, foremost among them the United States’ refusal to join, despite President Wilson’s labors as the prime architect. Stewart’s criticism of the League’s weaknesses, in its simultaneous impotence and incompetence, serves as a reminder for the need of robust, yet practical, international structures.