Former State Department adviser Knox Thames urges U.S. to use political leverage to defend religious freedom worldwide

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, and terrorism — and used country examples to illustrate each category, including China and Burma (authoritarian), Sri Lanka and Pakistan (extremist violence), India (majoritarian pressures), and ISIS in Iraq and Afghanistan (terrorism). He stressed precise terminology: "when well meaning groups call everything persecution, then it dilutes the word."

Thames urged U.S. officials and members of Congress to pursue what he called the "four C's": coalitions, consistency, call-outs and consequences. He said coalitions that span political and religious lines can increase leverage; consistency requires raising religious-freedom concerns with both allies and adversaries; call-outs — public naming of abuses by commissions, members of Congress and the State Department — can secure immediate relief for individuals; and consequences — calibrated incentives or penalties — are necessary to sustain long-term change.

He cited Uzbekistan as an example where a sustained U.S. approach combining public pressure and the threat of restrictions helped persuade authorities to liberalize some policies after President Shavkat Mirziyoyev took office. Thames also recommended that Congress use tools such as the watch lists and the State Department's annual religious-freedom report to signal concern about trends in countries such as India and Russia.

On technology, Thames warned that social media platforms and messaging apps have been used to mobilize violence against religious minorities, citing Sri Lanka and Pakistan as examples where online content helped form deadly mobs. He urged engagement with technology companies and noted worries about the spread of surveillance technologies from China to other states.

Audience members raised country-specific questions: the panel discussed Ukraine's Law 3894 and the legal process it establishes for churches affiliated with Moscow, the targeting of religious minorities in occupied Ukrainian territory, the underreported role of religious persecution in driving migration, threats to clergy and faith communities from criminal networks in parts of Latin America, and the uncertain trajectory for religious rights in postwar Syria.

Thames ended by urging sustained, bipartisan Congressional engagement and practical, staff-level advocacy: he recommended concise, evidence-based requests from NGOs and constituents to Hill staffers as an effective route to influence foreign governments' treatment of religious communities.

The Commission recording and a transcript of the briefing are available on the commission's website, csce.gov.