Shaun Casey Gives Public Lecture at CTI on Religion in American Diplomacy

On October 23, the Center of Theological Inquiry hosted Dr. Shaun Casey to give the William Scheide Lecture on Religion and Global Concerns. In the first public event held in CTI’s newly remodeled building, Casey addressed a room of theologians and the civic-minded public on the “The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy.” His lecture reprised themes from his 2023 book, Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom: The Future of Religion in American Diplomacy, which reflects on his tenure in the US State Department as the Special Representative for Religion and Global Affairs and the Director of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs from 2013-2017 under the Obama Administration.

Casey recounted how he was recruited by Secretary of State John Kerry, who had come to recognize the need for American diplomacy to take seriously the role of religion in foreign policy. As a Professor of Christian ethics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, Casey was well-suited to articulate the public significance of religion and to understand the varied concerns and priorities that animate its practitioners. Despite the formidable presence of religion in many of the most prominent geopolitical conflicts of the last 50 years, no one had yet to see to it that the US Foreign Service was equipped to attend to these realities. The causes for this oversight were multiple, but undeniably one was fear. As Casey quipped, dealing with religion in diplomacy is “akin to brain surgery—necessary, but fatal if not done well.”

With no formal precedents, Casey had to construct his team from the ground up and publicize and interpret its role to others in the State Department. There were potential sources of resistance. No one had ever done this before and diplomats often have troubled relations with external organizations. Nevertheless, Casey insisted that their purpose was to serve and equip, not to demand or point the finger. As a result, they came to be appreciated and respected by the Foreign Service. The task of the Office of Religion and Global Affairs was threefold: (i) to advise the Secretary of State when religion came across his screen, (ii) to equip the over 200 embassies and consulates to analyze religion on the ground, and (iii) to provide a point of contact for anyone (individuals, NGOs, institutes, nations) who wanted to discuss religious affairs. Much of the work was pedagogical, educating those in diplomatic posts about the religious realities of their host countries and encouraging them to make contacts with religious communities and their leaders. Diplomats are often skittish in talking to religious leaders—especially about religion—and yet, as Casey reminded them, most clergy love to talk and love to be heard. If the diplomat’s role is to interpret America to the host country and the host country to America, then religious communities cannot be barred from the table.

Over his tenure, the Office worked on a number of high-profile cases—the Paris Climate Accords, a campaign against public corruption in Nigeria, the Disability Treaty, the global refugee crisis—which he recounts in detail in Chasing the Devil at Foggy Bottom. In the lecture, Casey shared two vignettes. In the first, he recalled writing his first memorandum for Secretary Kerry, who was to meet the following day with the Vatican Secretary, Pietro Peralin, of the newly installed Pope Francis. In the second, he told of his visit to Cuba, meeting with a seasoned Cuban official to discuss how US and Cuban religious communities might deepen ties with one another. Unexpectedly, given past rebuffs, she was receptive.

Dr. Casey concluded by commending the value of interdisciplinary work on religion and diplomacy. He recalled that decades ago, George Kennan, Reinhold Niebuhr, and J. Robert Oppenheimer met for lunch at the home of the Oppenheimers in Princeton, where they discussed theology. These giants of international affairs, one of whom was a leading theologian of his generation, had cultivated relationships of mutual collaboration and cross-disciplinary discussion. Where might such collaboration take place today? Perhaps, he suggested, Princeton is still the place.