Religious Freedom: The Ultimate Counterterrorism Weapon?

Google Tech Talk
August 12, 2009

ABSTRACT

Presented by Chris Seiple.

While the U.S. can summon hard power with relative ease, employing soft power is more difficult. Indeed, smart power suggests that hard and soft power are two sides of the same coin, that our interests are protected when our values are promoted. If Americans want to engage the world with efficient and enduring effect, we must better understand the essence of American power and the foundation of the global public square: religious freedom.


The Institute for Global Engagement promotes sustainable environments for religious freedom worldwide. It studies the impact of faith on state and society, it encourages governments to protect religious freedom, and it equips citizens to exercise that freedom responsibly.

Chris Seiple, Ph.D., is the president of the Institute for Global Engagement. A graduate of Stanford, the Naval Postgraduate School, and the Fletcher School for Law & Diplomacy, he is the founder of The Review of Faith & International Affairs , a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute (Philadelphia), a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (New York), and a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London). His book, The U.S. Military/NGO Relationship in Humanitarian Interventions, is a seminal work in the field, and he is the co-author of International Religious Freedom Advocacy: A Guide to Organizations, Law, and NGOs. Seiple has appeared on BBC, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, and Saudi TV. He has spoken all over the world, including Tashkent, Doha, Peshawar, Bannu, Moscow, Vladikavkaz, Hanoi, Issakul, Urumchi, Oslo, Hama, and Beijing. A former Marine infantry officer, he also speaks regularly at U.S. military schools regarding national security and religious and cultural engagement.

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[Keynan0]

As long as there is religion, whether it is associated with superstition or not, there will never be peace.

[stazzou]

The IGE is a dangerous organisation. This CFR guy is a criminal. Freedom fighters, as their name says, are here for fighting freedom where there still is some.

Being free starts by understanding that all religions are tools that can be used to keep an already ignorant population even more scared, docile, ashamed and stupid.

[Keynan0]

@Bearlizard777 That seems rather pessimistic. peace exists in much of the world. All peace requires is the maturity to accept that not everyone agrees with you and resources in sufficient quantity that no one need fight for survival. The biggest barriers to peace, then, are dogmatism and global over population

[Bearlizard777]

@Keynan0 Peace is nonexistent there can never be peace.

[bmecher]

Lost me when Madlyn Albright and all the Come to Washington be part of the cool crowd started................

Separation of Church and State, Faith and Law is crucial. A government should do NOTHING when it come to religion, government is use of force and we know what happens when religion and force get going together.......(Crusades, Jihad, "social" progroms.......)

People should feel free to chose their own moral/spiritual guideposts without any fear of feeling alienated.

[phxfreddy]

Should you not attack those oppressing you if you are concerned with your religious freedom????

[semigotbanned]

if the guy wanna talk about foreign policy credibly, he probably should disassociate himself from CFR lol

[generationalist]

What I did not hear was how the non believer's most minority voice will be respected and attended to. There was some lip service to the non believing minority in the same fashion that President Obama paid lip service to non believers in his election campaign. What I do not see is any real investment in a discussion of how to include the non believer in free and open exchange of ideas. Each of these faiths jewish, christian and muslim; hold irreconcilable views of justice towards non belief.

[raininginhell]

I really disagree with Google hosting this video as part of the "techtalks" channel. Please take down this video google!

[janne808]

you're right. i shouldn't insult the monkeys. sorry.

[atenrok]

please stop insulting monkeys!