Religious Liberty and US Foreign Policy: No Longer the Guiding Principle?

Freedom of religion recently has been placed by the US atop a hierarchy of human rights. This will change, Secretary Blinken says.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks about U.S. leadership in fighting the global coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic during an event at the State Department in Washington on April 5, 2021. Alexander Drago/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Commentary

On March 30, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced what some saw as a fundamental change in American foreign policy. The United States, Blinken said in presenting the Department of State’s 45th annual report on human rights in the world, will “repudiate the unbalanced views” that placed religious liberty at the top of a hierarchy of human rights.