US State Department

Summer 2018 was a landmark season for the US and its participation in advancing international human rights. First, the US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley led the US withdrawal from the UN Human Rights Council, and then the US Department of State hosted the first ever international religious freedom ministerial to advance religious liberty around the world.

Christians who see Palestinians as human beings made in the image of God should not be satisfied with the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). Those who are satisfied don’t know what it looks like.

Last month was a significant step forward for international religious freedom advocacy, but much work remains to be done.

After centuries of declarations upholding the importance of religious freedom, why are we still issuing declarations?

Michael Doran’s book shows how the Eisenhower administration made several mistakes in the Middle East, and today policymakers can learn from them.

Although Turkish human rights abuses may seem like a secondary concern for the US in light of Turkish threats against US partners in Syria and Turkey’s deepening relationship with Russia and Iran, these issues cannot be separated.

While there is enormous merit to Michael Doran’s binary and overall thesis in his First Things essay, there are some complicating factors that obscure the “wondrous chasm” between Jacksonianism and Progressivism.

While the work of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom is vital, the ambassador is most effective when he or she influences the department and US policy as a whole. The combination of ambassador-at-large and religion is thus a difficult one at State, so having someone as politically experienced as Brownback in the role is vital.

On December 22, 2017, the Dutch government published a letter recognizing that in all likelihood Daesh (ISIS) perpetrates genocide against religious groups in Syria and Iraq.