STRATEGIC ANALYSIS

American Activism on Religious Freedom in the Middle East: A Critique

P.R. Kumaraswamy is Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
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  • May 2021
    Volume: 
    45
    Issue: 
    3
    Articles

    Since its enactment in October 1998, the International Religious Freedom Act has become a major instrument to further the American foreign policy agenda in the Middle East and elsewhere. While the annual reports are a great source of information on lesser-known facts and shifts concerning religious minorities, they also underscore an inherent bias in favour of Christian missionaries, politicization of the minority question and American exceptionalism. Until there is an inclusive alternative, the Religious Freedom Reports of the US State Department are a good source of information to be used with caution.

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