Op-Ed: U.S. Leadership on International Religious Freedom
- Knox Thames
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
A recent United Nations report documented Russia’s targeting of civilian populations in Ukraine with drone attacks and concluded they constituted crimes against humanity. During this almost daily onslaught, religious places are also attacked. In recent days, Russian airstrikes killed innocent civilians and damaged a church in the Donetsk region.
In stark contrast, the United States observed October 27 as “International Religious Freedom Day,” commemorating the day in 1998 when President Bill Clinton signed legislation making the protection and promotion of religious freedom a U.S. foreign policy priority. To mark this day, a new report released by the McCain Institute highlights the challenges to religious freedom in Russia, as well as China, Iran, and North Korea, and ways the United States can continue to lead.
The comprehensive report examines the state of religious persecution in each country, documenting the violations and providing recommendations for U.S. government action. As co-editors, we wrote chapters and worked alongside distinguished colleagues whose submissions provide rigorous analysis of this emerging “Axis of Upheaval” and its systematic repression of individuals targeted for their religious beliefs. Bottom line up front, severe religious persecution continues, and only the United States has the power and influence to stop it.
Take Russia, for example. At first glance, the Russian government appears to value traditional conservatism and Christian values. Religious life has certainly improved since the Soviet period, but that hardly sets a high bar. Vladmir Putin has worked to manipulate independent religious activity and suppress those that resist.
For instance, Putin has co-opted the Russian Orthodox Church, whose head is Patriarch Kirill, is considered a Putin crony. In his speeches, Putin regularly invokes the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC), but these references to the church are hardly religious in nature. Instead, Putin utilizes and manipulates the church to justify his imperialistic ambitions and Russian expansionism associated with the Russkiy Mir, or “Russian World.”
Unlike the United States, the Russian Federation lacks a formal separation of church and state—the Russian state and ROC are essentially considered one and the same. The 1997 Russian Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Associations elevates Russian Orthodoxy to a “special role,” even though Article 14 of the Russian Constitution states the Russian Federation is officially secular. In this way, religious teachings produced by the ROC are Kremlin propaganda points, and not likely to reflect any Biblical truth. Religious minorities, like Jehovah’s Witnesses and evangelical Christians, face banning or worse.
Outside of Russia, Putin’s war crimes in Ukrainian-occupied territories have led to the disappearance of non-Orthodox pastors, while Russian missiles have targeted religious and cultural sites in other parts of Ukraine. Some in the West may be tempted to believe that the Russian Federation is a Christian nation, but U.S. policymakers should keep in mind that Russia is an enormous violator of religious freedom, and not a Christian nation or defender of Christianity whatsoever.
The McCain Institute report documents the violations perpetrated by Putin’s Russia, as well as the religious repression in China, Iran, and North Korea. Importantly, the report also lays out practical ideas that Congress and the Trump administration would be wise to pursue with all four countries. Across the board, the authors see a crucial, if not indispensable, role for the United States to advocate for religious freedom for all.
For one, the U.S. Secretary of State should redesignate all four as “Countries of Particular Concern” (CPC) under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, recognizing their abysmal conduct towards religious freedom. Although Russia has been designated as a CPC since 2021, no specific presidential actions under the Act have been taken to address its religious freedom violations. Thus, to send a clear message of concern, the Trump administration should impose targeted sanctions for Russia’s persecution of religious groups. Sanctions would indicate that the U.S. takes these acts of persecution seriously and holds accountable those who are responsible. Such a message would be noticed by others.
In the face of the persecution committed by Russia and these other abusers, only the United States has the power and influence to induce these countries to change course. Will we use the blessings of liberty and prosperity generously bestowed on our country to help others? That is the question that this report, and International Religious Freedom Day, asks.
Knox Thames served in a special envoy role during the Obama and Trump administrations at the State Department, focused on religious minorities in the Middle East and South/Central Asia. Alexis Mrachek is Senior Program Manager of the Human Rights & Freedom Program at the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. They served as co-editors of the McCain Institute report, and the article is adapted from the report with permission.