Religion and Diplomacy: A Transatlantic Dialogue
Religion and Diplomacy: A Transatlantic Dialogue
Remarks
Uzra Zeya
Principal Deputy
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and
Labor
Brookings Institution
Washington, DC
May 14,
2014
Good morning. It is a pleasure and honor to be with you today. I want to thank The Brookings Institution, William Galston, E.J. Dionne, and Peter Mandaville for this opportunity to talk with you about the nexus between religion and foreign policy. This is an incredibly important topic for us at the Department of State. Recent events are confirming, from the Central African Republic to Crimea, now more than ever, the need to understand religious dynamics and engage with religious leaders. This is not only about promoting religious freedom but how to advance greater respect and acceptance across faiths.
Let me assure you, religious freedom is a bedrock priority of American foreign policy, alongside democracy promotion. As Secretary of State Kerry stated at his confirmation hearing, religious freedom is “at the core of who we are.” Given the important role religion plays in the lives of so many people, we miss a key opportunity for engagement when we leave out religious leaders and their faith groups—particularly when conflicts arise.
I understand today’s conference is the second in a series begun in London on Religion and Diplomacy. Today’s meeting is providing the space for this dialogue to continue between government and civil society. What makes it particularly rich is that the Brookings Institution has brought together government officials from multiple countries, including my own, with civil society representatives to strategize on how we might partner to counter rising religious intolerance.
Regardless of our work affiliations, faith backgrounds or beliefs, I believe our vision is shared: the guarantee of universal religious freedom within peaceful communities free of violent extremism.
So where do we stand right now? Three facts before us:
Fact #1: We live in a religious world. According to Pew Forum statistics, 84% of the world’s population claims a religion. It’s clear that religion matters to the majority of the people around the globe. It is no surprise, then, that religious leaders and their communities sometimes hold the key to peaceful resolution and sustained peace.
Often held as trusted agents by their communities, faith leaders can be authentic voices calling for tolerance and reconciliation. We have seen this in Ukraine where Christian, Muslim, and Jewish leaders are speaking out in support of each other and expressing their shared desire for peace.
Religious leaders can be the voices of tolerance and acceptance, or the voices inflaming intolerance. A key goal of U.S. engagement with religious communities, therefore, is to urge them to use their leadership responsibly—to promote mutual respect and freedom for their own faith and for others.
Western diplomacy has traditionally not emphasized religious dialogue. So we miss important opportunities when we speak only to governments while leaving out religious groups and faith leaders. Interfaith dialogue and religious engagement are therefore key elements in our diplomatic outreach.
Fact #2: Religious intolerance is on the rise. Pew research tells us that the number of countries with religion-related terrorist violence has doubled over the past six years. Furthermore, more than 5 billion people—74% of the world’s population—live in countries with high levels of government restrictions or social hostilities involving religion. Too often, religious minorities are the target of both legal clampdowns and violence.
Around the world we see conflicts involving religion undermining community well-being and turning neighbor against neighbor. We see this with attacks against Rohingya in Burma, with the recent kidnappings by Boko Haram in Nigeria, with attacks on Christians in some Muslim countries, and with the rise of anti-Semitic, xenophobic parties in Europe.
All of us—whether serving in government, civil society, or as members of religious communities—must also stand up and speak out against violence and intimidation carried out in the name of religion. We have a similar obligation to stand up for vulnerable groups facing persecution or discrimination by governments and societal actors.
Fact #3: Religious freedom promotes regional stability. Research shows that where there is religious freedom, there is more stability in communities. In denying religious freedom, governments often undermine their own interests. Crackdowns on religious freedom destabilize communities and suppress economic growth. When governments repress religious expression, when politicians co-opt religious leaders for personal agendas, when public figures fail to denounce religious bigotry, the groundwork is laid for violent extremism to grow.
Promoting respect for religious freedom and tolerance are therefore essential for peaceful society—but this is not just the job of governments. It’s also the work of civil society to build bridges across religious divides and foster mutual respect. Government and civil society can exponentially increase their effectiveness in building peaceful, democratic societies when they can partner together.
How the Department of State is integrating religion in diplomacy.
President Obama and Secretary Kerry have emphasized the importance of engaging religious leaders and communities in advancing development, human rights and conflict mitigation. To this end, the Department is facilitating engagement involving citizens, faith-based organizations, and governments. The Bureau I represent, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (DRL), is heavily engaged in interfaith collaboration.
To give you a brief overview of the DRL bureau, we lead the Department of State’s efforts to promote democracy; protect human rights, including international religious freedom; and advance labor rights around the world. Our mission is to advance universal human rights and fundamental freedoms and to strengthen democratic institutions in pursuit of a more peaceful, prosperous and stable world.
Within DRL, we have undertaken a number of initiatives to operationalize religious engagement as part of our foreign policy. While not an exhaustive list, I’d like to note a few of the concrete steps we’ve taken:
1) The International
Religious Freedom Report and Country of Particular Concern
Designations: Each year we report the status of
religious freedom in nearly 200 countries. These reports
provide a strong tool to hold governments accountable for
deficits in universal religious freedoms that we all should
enjoy. We also periodically review countries where religious
freedom is under the greatest threat. For those nations
perpetrating particularly severe violations of religious
freedom, we recommend that Secretary of State designate them
as Countries of Particular Concern. Currently these
countries include Burma, China, Eritrea, Iran, North Korea,
Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Uzbekistan.
2) Promotion
of religious freedom worldwide: Of course our work
on religious freedom is not confined to reports alone. We
make sure religious freedom concerns are addressed in
diplomatic outreach, whether that be urging the government
of Pakistan to repeal blasphemy laws or working with
European nations and the OSCE to combat rising anti-Semitism
and other forms of religious intolerance.
3) The third
area of religious engagement is through the
Secretary’s Strategic Dialogue with Civil Society
– Religion and Foreign Policy Working Group.
Launched in 2011, these strategic dialogues created
a formal channel for the Secretary of State to receive
recommendations and perspectives from civil society. One of
the suggestions coming from the Religion and Foreign Policy
Working Group was to establish an official mechanism for
faith-based communities to engage with the Department of
State. Acting on this recommendation, Secretary Kerry
launched the Office of Faith-Based Community Initiatives in
2013. I believe Shaun Casey, who heads up this office, will
be speaking with you tomorrow about the incredible work they
have been doing.
4) Diplomatic training in
religion and foreign policy. With a careful eye to
the First Amendment’s Establishment clause, U.S. diplomats
have sometimes steered clear of religious engagement, not
wanting to overstep the line separating church and state. To
better equip our diplomats with the fluency necessary to
engage religious leaders, we now offer twice a year an
intensive course on Religion and Foreign Policy at the
Foreign Service Institute. As an indicator of the success of
this endeavor, the upcoming class is already full. The
Bureau of Conflict & Stabilization Operations has also been
working to develop new, interactive training modules on
religion and conflict mitigation.
5) Conferences
open to government and civil society. Since 2013,
we’ve held three roundtables on the following issues. We
know how important it is to collaborate with civil society
and other government agency colleagues.
• Working with
Civil Society to Advance International Religious
Freedom
• Interfaith Dialogue, Religious Freedom, and
Combating Violent Extremism
• Women Religious Leaders
and Conflict Prevention
Given that close to 100 people
attended each of these roundtables—and over a third of
them came from civil society or other US government
agencies—I would say there is great interest in such
dialogues. That’s also evident from the diversity of
attendance here today. These events offer government and
civil society a space to dig down further into implementing
our shared goals on religious freedom.
6)
Sponsoring interfaith travel. When
religious leaders have the opportunity to explore history
together, breakthrough insights can occur. For this reason,
we see great value in sponsoring interfaith travel. Last
year, a group of imams and Muslim scholars along with the
Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism and the
Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,
visited Dachau and Auschwitz. At the close of the trip, they
pledged to fight anti-Semitism and hate in their own
communities. When leaders unite across faiths to speak up
for each other in the face of religious intolerance, it’s
an irrefutable message.
7) Another important track for
religious engagement is the Human Rights & Democracy
Fund. Recognizing that governments cannot do it
alone, DRL currently provides $8 million in funding for
civil society programs specifically related to religious
freedom. In this way, civil society can effect change at the
grassroots level. Sometimes this programming is the only US
assistance available to citizens working to improve their
societies. Wherever possible, we collaborate with other
agencies and bureaus to ensure that our programs are not
duplicating other efforts.
8) 16/18 Process.
A final example is the implementation of UN Human
Rights Council Resolution 16/18, which offers an affirmative
path for combating discrimination and intolerance based on
religion or belief. To this end, we facilitate a training
program for local officials on cultural awareness regarding
religious minorities and enforcement of non-discrimination
laws. So far, successful training sessions have been held in
Bosnia, Greece, and Indonesia, and we plan to expand the
training to other countries
soon.
Conclusion
As I have stated, we all realize the importance of working together to address religious intolerance and the violence and instability it can breed …it’s the implementation which presents the greatest challenge. The challenges are significant, but I believe they are surmountable. I understand you’ll be looking more closely at implementation and next steps this afternoon. I hope you have a fruitful dialogue and will share these conclusions with me and my staff. We look forward to more such conversations moving ahead.
ENDS