Book Description

This book is about the role of the Christian Right in the US foreign policy decision making process. It reveals that the Christian Right has long been fascinated with some international issues in general and US foreign policy in particular. The interest of the movement in international issues increased markedly during the George W. Bush administration (2000–2009). During this period, the movement successfully widened its activism from domestic social conservative issues to foreign policy issues by participating in, articulating and lobbying for its religious version of American foreign policy. In assessing the role of the Christian Right in US foreign policy making, this dissertation examines aspects of US foreign policy, namely Israel, international religious freedom and global humanitarianism. Based on these three aspects, the Christian Right is seen as skilled in framing and defining issues. The Christian Right seems effective in selecting and prioritizing international issues that have a reasonable chance of being picked up on by foreign policy decision makers, especially in Congress. Moreover, the Christian Right has shown its maturity in seeking engagement and cooperation with other organizations, regardless of whether they are secular or religious, to advance its international goals. Finally, in pursuing and conveying its international agenda, the Christian Right has adopted a more moderate and mundane approach. Instead of using its traditional religious rhetoric, the Christian Right has successfully projected its foreign policy preferences into the conventional realist discourse of American foreign policy that was largely based on the objective of national interest and national security.