March 31, 2009

The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 established the advancement of religious freedom as a foreign policy of the United States. But to date, the law has had a minimal effect on global levels of religious persecution. Instead of facilitating the political and cultural institutions necessary for securing religious freedom, U.S. policy has tended to focus on rhetorical denunciations and negotiating the release of religious prisoners. In this video, Berkley Center Senior Fellow Tom Farr discusses the future of U.S. international religious freedom policy and his recommendations for the Obama administration.

Tom Farr is visiting associate professor of religion and international affairs in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs. He served as the first director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom and is the author of “World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security” (Oxford, 2008).