1st Edition

Law and International Religious Freedom The Rise and Decline of the American Model

By Pasquale Annicchino Copyright 2018
    128 Pages
    by Routledge

    128 Pages
    by Routledge

    This book analyzes the promotion and protection of freedom of religion in the international arena with a particular focus on the role and influence of the US International Religious Freedom Act, 1998. It also investigates the impact of the IRFA on the legislation and policies of third countries and the EU. The book develops the story of the protection of religious freedom through foreign policy by showing how religious laws affect and shape a more communitarian dimension of the notion of freedom of religion which stands in contrast with a traditionally Western individualistic understanding of the right. It is argued that it is still possible to defend the unstable category of freedom of religion or belief especially when major violations are at stake. The book presents a balanced contribution to the academic debate on the promotion and protection of religious freedom. The comparative approach and interdisciplinary methodology make it a valuable resource for academics, students and policy-makers in Law, International Relations and Strategic Studies.

    Introduction





    Part I: The United States and the International Religious Freedom Act





    Chapter 1: The first freedom



    Chapter 2: Background and genesis of the International Religious Freedom Act



    Chapter 3: The International Religious Freedom Act





    Part II: Religious Freedom in the External Relations of the European Union





    Chapter 4: European Union law and religious freedom



    Chapter 5: Protection and promotion of religious freedom in the external relations of the European Union



    Chapter 6: Reception of the United States model in the experiences of several European countries





    Part III: Religious Freedom as a Foreign Policy Instrument: Problems and Perspectives





    Chapter 7: A return to the collective aspect of religious freedom? Different religious perspectives on the construction of law



    Chapter 8: The impossibility of religious freedom?



    Postscript

    Biography



    Dr Pasquale Annicchino is a Visiting Fellow in the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Italy and a Senior Research Associate at the Cambridge Institute on Religion and International Studies, Cambridge, United Kingdom. His research interests are in the areas of Law and Religion, Comparative Human Rights, National Security Law, Legal Theory, and European Union Law and EU External Relations. He has published widely on these and related areas.

     'Several governments in the West have grown committed to exporting religious freedom worldwide and have looked at the United States for inspiration. While explaining why the American model has been on the rise since the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, Pasquale Annicchino suggests that international politics subservient to national interests are threatening the global religious conversation.'

    Professor Marco Ventura, University of Siena, Italy

    'Law and International Religious Freedom is a sophisticated study in how (mostly conservative) conceptions of religious liberty have been exported to Europe from the United States and are influencing the development of European church/state law. Dr. Annicchino possesses a deep knowledge of multiple legal systems which he deploys in a nuanced analysis of the dissemination of a particular conception of religious liberty in Europe by theologically conservative religions in the U.S. Appearing for the first time in English, in the midst of the U.S.’s apparent cession of global leadership following the election of President Trump, Annicchino’s examination of this phenomenon could not be more timely. Everyone concerned with the current state of religious freedom at home and abroad will want to read this book.'

    Frederick M. Gedicks, Brigham Young University, USA