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Former State Department adviser Knox Thames urges U.S. to use political leverage to defend religious freedom worldwide
Summary
At a Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe briefing, Knox Thames outlined four types of religious persecution and urged U.S. policymakers to pair public naming of abuses with concrete consequences, consistent engagement with friends and foes, and broad coalitions to protect religious minorities.
A briefing hosted by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe on Oct. 12 featured Knox Thames, a former State Department special adviser for religious minorities, who urged Congress and U.S. foreign-policy officials to combine naming abuses with policy consequences to protect people persecuted for their faith.
"The United States is uniquely positioned among countries around the world to be a force for good," Thames said, arguing that countries that respect religious freedom tend to be "more stable, more peaceful, more prosperous." He told the commission that a more consistent application of U.S. influence could change governments' behavior and improve safety for religious minorities.
Thames outlined four categories of persecution — authoritarian state repression, extremist nonstate violence, majoritarian persecution in democracies,…
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