Religion and US Foreign Policy: Epistemic Communities, Regimes, and Interests

Nukhet Sandal, Religion and US Foreign Policy: Epistemic Communities, Regimes, and Interests, International Studies Review, Volume 23, Issue 3, September 2021, Pages 1008–1009, https://doi.org/10.1093/isr/viab009

Extract

Despite a rich literature on the intersection of religion and international relations, foreign policy experts’ and religious leaders’ ties to specific foreign policy ideals and perspectives remain understudied, even in the case of the United States. Few studies, for example, systematically analyze the connections between faith-based groups and US foreign policymaking (see Johnston 2011; Marsden 2013; Hurd 2015). Finding Faith in Foreign Policy works to fill this gap, shedding light on the complex relationships between religion and US foreign policy initiatives. Although some might argue that the influence of religion in US foreign policy, being minimal, does not merit detailed investigation, Bettiza disagrees. Bringing together religion, international relations theory, and US diplomacy, he argues that the role of faith in US foreign policy has grown in scope, especially in recent decades.

Bettiza reaches his broad conclusion through the study of religious foreign policy frameworks, or “religious foreign policy regimes,” under the Clinton, Bush, and Obama administrations. In particular, he identifies four such regimes (i.e., explicitly religious foreign policy frameworks): International Religious Freedom, Faith-based Foreign Aid, Muslim and Islamic Interventions, and Religious Engagement. Some existing work focuses on one or two of these frameworks, but Bettiza's contribution lies in situating these regimes altogether within the context of American foreign policy.