Thomas Farr: Obama Must Appoint Religious Freedom Ambassador
A 1998 law mandates that the US government have an Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom to advance religious liberty around the world as part of American foreign policy. But the Obama administration still has not appointed anyone to this post, even though in his landmark speech to the Muslim world from Cairo in June 2009 President Obama said religious freedom is an American priority. Thomas Farr, associate professor of religion and international affairs at Georgetown University and former director of the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, discusses his concerns about Obama’s lack of action, the qualities he’d like to see in the ambassador, and the importance of the office to US foreign policy.
