Durham E-Theses The Christian Right and US Foreign Policy in the Twenty-rst Century SALLEH, MOHD,AFANDI How to cite: SALLEH, MOHD,AFANDI (2011) The Christian Right and US Foreign Policy in the Twenty-rst Century, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/669/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk The Christian Right and US Foreign Policy in the 21st Century By: MOHD AFANDI BIN SALLEH Thesis Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Durham University The School of Government and International Affairs University of Durham, United Kingdom March 2011 Abstract The thesis discusses the role of the Christian Right in the US foreign policy decision making process. The research revealed that the Christian Right has long been fascinated with some international issues in general and US foreign policy in particular. The Christian Right’s interest in international issues increased markedly during years of the George W. Bush presidency. It successfully widened its activities from domestic social conservative issues to foreign policy issues by participating in, articulating and lobbying for its religious version of American foreign policy. In assessing the role of the Christian Right in US foreign policy making, this dissertation examines three aspects of US foreign policy, namely Israel, international religious freedom and global humanitarianism. Based on these aspects, the Christian Right is seen as skilled in framing and defining issues. The Christian Right seems effective in selecting and prioritizing international issues that have a reasonable chance of being selected by foreign policy decision makers, especially in Congress. Moreover, the Christian Right has shown its maturity in seeking engagement and cooperation with other organizations, secular and religious, in order to advance its international goals. Finally, in pursuing and conveying its international agenda, the Christian Right has adopted a more moderate and less overtly religious approach. Instead of using its traditional religious rhetoric, the Christian Right has successfully projected its foreign policy preferences into the conventional realist discourse of American foreign policy that is largely based on the objective of national interest and national security. Nevertheless, this study does not, in any way, conclude that the Christian Right was able to influence or determine the direction of US foreign policy and its outcomes; however, it does suggest that the Christian Right did contribute and have an impact on the formulation of some US foreign policy. As such, the research contends that the role of the Christian Right is similar to other interest group lobbies and that its perceived influence on US foreign policy should not be exaggerated. Finally, the research suggests that the emergence of the Christian Right as an actor in asserting its global agenda through US foreign policy can possibly provide an example of how religious beliefs and values can become a potential source of “soft power”. Together with the “climate of opinion” of the American public during the Bush administration, the “soft power” at domestic level could serve as a valuable new explanatory variable in understanding how the US foreign policy was formulated in the early 21st century. i Table of Contents ABSTRACT ......................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ......................................................................................II DECLARATION ............................................................................................... VIII STATEMENT OF COPYRIGHT ......................................................................... IX DEDICATION ...................................................................................................... X ACKNOWLEDGMENT ...................................................................................... XI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.............................................................................. XII LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................ XIV CHAPTER 1 .........................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................1 1.0 Background of the Research ............................................................................................................. 1 1.0.1 Religion in International Relations ............................................................................................ 1 1.0.2 The Christian Right and Its Foreign Policy’s Interest ................................................................ 3 1.0.3 The Christian Right and the George W. Bush Administration ................................................... 4 1.0.4 The Christian Right and George W. Bush’s Foreign Policy ...................................................... 7 1.1 Research Objectives and Scope of the Research ............................................................................. 9 1.2 Significance of the Study and its Contribution ............................................................................. 11 1.3 Research Methodology .................................................................................................................... 13 1.4 Theoretical Framework ................................................................................................................... 15 1.4.1 Social Constructivism .............................................................................................................. 16 1.4.2 Interest Group Theory .............................................................................................................. 20 ii 1.4.3 Interest Group Lobbies and US Foreign Policy ....................................................................... 23 1.5 Overview of the Chapters ............................................................................................................... 28 CHAPTER 2: .....................................................................................................31 THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT: DEFINITIONS, HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, WORLD VIEW AND ITS INVOLVEMENT IN AMERICAN POLITICS ...............31 2.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 31 2.1 The Christian Right: A Broad Definition ...................................................................................... 31 2.2 The Christian Right and its Various Terms .................................................................................. 33 2.3 Who is the Christian Right? ........................................................................................................... 35 2.4 The Christian Right’s World View ................................................................................................ 39 2.5 The Political Theology of the Christian Right ............................................................................... 42 2.5.1 Dispensationalism .................................................................................................................... 43 2.5.2 Reconstructionism/Dominionism ............................................................................................. 49 2.6 History of the Christian Right ........................................................................................................ 51 2.6.1 Protestantism in America – 16th to 18th Century ..................................................................... 51 2.6.2 The 19th and 20th Centuries and Modernism in America .......................................................... 53 2.6.3 The Legal Battles of the 1960s and 1970s ............................................................................... 60 2.6.4 The Cold War ........................................................................................................................... 61 2.6.5 The Emergence of the New Right and It Alliance with the Christian Right ............................ 65 2.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 70 CHAPTER 3 .......................................................................................................72 THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT’S MOST INFLUENTIAL ADVOCACY GROUPS ...... 72 3.0 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 72 3.1 Concerned Women for America (CWA) ......................................................................................