Shaun Casey on Religion in American Foreign Policy, Democratic Values, and How to Meet the Challenges of the Future

Dr. Shaun Casey was U.S. special representative for religion and global affairs and director of the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs. He is also a non-resident fellow at Pulaski.

His new book is Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy. From the publisher: "In this fresh and provocative narrative, Casey writes frankly about his work integrating sophisticated, research-driven policy into the State Department under Secretary of State John Kerry. Their new strategy went beyond older paradigms that focused myopically on religious freedom or countering violent extremism. Such reductive approaches, Casey insists, cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in the US’s ill-fated invasion of Iraq in 2003. Witty and astute, Casey recounts his team’s challenges in DC politics as well as in the major global events of his tenure, including climate change, the rise of ISIL, and the refugee crisis. "

We talk about the role of religion in the past, future, and present of American diplomacy; how to effectively coordinate policy around shared values; and where we've gone wrong in the recent past, as well as how we can get things right in the future.