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 MEDIA CONTACT:
Thomas Wright e-mail / 617-447-8302
The Chicago Council released its task force report, Engaging Religious Communities Abroad: A New Imperative for U.S. Foreign Policy, on February 23, 2010, in Washington D.C. at Georgetown University.
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs convened a task force of thirty-two experts and stakeholders – former government officials, religious leaders, heads of international organizations, and scholars – to bring a diverse perspective to the debate over how to successfully engage religion on an international level.
Religious communities are central players in the counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan, development assistance, the promotion of human rights, stewardship of the environment, and the pursuit of peace in troubled parts of the world. The success of American diplomacy in the next decade will be measured in no small part by its ability to connect with the hundreds of millions of people throughout the world whose identity is defined by religion.
President Obama’s historic speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009, with its promise to engage with Muslim communities, was an important step in the right direction. The report of this task force takes the next step in developing a strategy to engage religious communities of all faiths in addressing foreign policy challenges.
Generous support from the Henry Luce Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York has made this Task Force possible.
For online resources related to the report and to religion and U.S. foreign policy, visit Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.
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MEDIA COVERAGE:
The New Rules: West Must Bridge Globalization's 'God Gap'
Thomas P.M. Barnett, World Politics Review, March 15, 2010
Does foreign policy need religion?
Gerard Russell, The Guardian, March 8, 2010
US needs to see religion's role
The Catholic Leader, March 7, 2010
Policy, not faith, shapes US-Muslim ties
Rami G. Khouri, Daily Star - Lebanon, March 2, 2010
Additional Coverage
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COMMENTARY:
Is there a God-gap in American Foreign Policy? Richard Cizik, fredericksburg.com, April 23, 2010
Foreign policy, religion and opportunity
Thomas Wright, "On Faith" blog, Washington Post, February 24, 2010
“Religious freedom” and its critics
R. Scott Appleby, "The Immanent Frame" blog, Social Science Research Council, Feburary 23, 2010
Task Force Cochair R. Scott Appleby's Video Commentary University of Notre Dame, February 23, 2010
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
University of Notre Dame's Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
Washington Post's "On Faith" blog
Social Science Research Council's "The Immanent Frame" blog
White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships
Odyssey Networks
USAID Issue Brief
Tony Blair Faith Foundation
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