On February 25, 2008, IGE’s Council on Faith & International Affairs (CFIA) will co-sponsor the first of three symposia at Georgetown University, collectively entitled, “Religious Freedom and U.S. Foreign Policy: Taking Stock, Looking Forward.” These symposia will commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA), and will provide nonpartisan, practical analysis of how to improve U.S. international religious freedom policy in the future.

This first symposium is entitled “The Origins and Promise of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy,” and will be held in Georgetown’s Copley Formal Lounge from 8:30 am – 1:30 pm. To RSVP, please click here.

This series is co-sponsored by:

    Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, Georgetown University.

    Center on Faith and International Affairs, Institute for Global Engagement.

    International Center for Law and Religion Studies, Brigham Young University.

    Council for America’s First Freedom, Richmond, VA.

    Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington DC.

    The Federalist Society, Washington DC.

    Leonard Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, Hartford, CT.

    Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY.

Below is the schedule of events:

8:30-10:00 am: The Debate over the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998

    Nina Shea, religious freedom expert at the Center for Religious Freedom

    Laura Bryant Hanford, a principal author of the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act

    Allen Hertzke, author of “Freeing God’s Children: The Unlikely Alliance for Global Human Rights”

10:15-11:45 am: The Social, Economic, and Political Impact of Religious Liberty Worldwide

11:45-12:00: Working Lunch

12:00 – 1:30 pm: International Perspectives

    Liu Peng, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

    Viktor Yelensky, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences

Future conferences will be held on April 21 (“A Decade of U.S. International Religious Freedom: Assessing the Results”) and October 10 (“The Future of U.S. International Religious Freedom Policy: Recommendations for a New Administration)”. All events will take place at Georgetown University. For updated information, please visit [url=http://www.cfia.org]http://www.cfia.org[/url] or http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/45292.html.