The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has convened a Task Force to study “Religion and the Making of American Foreign Policy.” Religion is a critical but often neglected factor in global affairs and American policy makers are distinctly disadvantaged when dealing with it, both at home and abroad. This is true for at least three reasons.  First, there is no commonly understood vocabulary for effectively engaging on topics of religion.  Second, there is no consensus for how, or even if, religion should be taken into account when constructing American policy. Third, because of America’s commitment to the separation of church and state, there are deeply seated normative and legal obstacles that prevent our leaders from effectively engaging in discussions of religion and policy. 

Task Force cochairs: 
R. Scott Appleby, director, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
Richard Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs, the National Association of Evangelicals

The Task Force, comprised of approximately thirty high-level and influential policymakers, academics, constitutional lawyers, and religious leaders, will focus on how to consider religious factors when developing American foreign policy. The Council plans to present the Task Force’s findings to the incoming administration in 2009.

Generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York has made this Task Force possible.