Yesterday, on Midday, I asked Thomas F. Farr, visiting professor at Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, what advice he'd give the new U.S. Secretary of State. We ran out of time, so Farr obliged me with the written answer that follows. . . . Farr, author of a new book, World of Faith and Freedom, believes for too long American diplomats and national security advisers have missed a major factor in geopolitics -- the role religion plays in cultures around the world, particularly in its hot spots. Hard to believe, but Farr makes the case that most who have their hands on foreign policy over the last 40 years consider religion irrelevant or irrational, not something to be taken seriously when negotiating with foreign powers. That's completely upside down, he says. I asked him what he'd tell Hilary Rodham Clinton if he could get 10 minutes with the woman designed by President-elect Obama to be the new secretary of state:

Farr:

"Hilary Clinton will need to initiate changes in the American foreign policy establishment, both from the top down and the bottom up.
 
"First, as she approaches the problem of religion in foreign policy, she should adopt a fundamental principle: religion is normative in human affairs; it is not an occasional add-on, or a therapy that some people seek to increase their self esteem. While religion is terribly personal, it is seldom a purely private matter. Most people quite naturally wish to draw on their religious beliefs to shape the laws and policies under which they live their lives. Tocqueville put it this way: 'Alongside every religion lies a political opinion which is linked to it by affinity.' In the 21st century the challenge for American policy is to help shape the religion-state relationship in key countries -- such as Iraq, Pakistan, Egypt, India, Russia, and China -- so that religious ideas and actors are accommodated to the public good.
 
"Second, Secretary Clinton should deliver, early in her tenure, a major address before a secular foreign policy audience, such as the Council on Foreign Relations, in which she makes it clear that this administration will begin to integrate the issues of religion and religious freedom into three major areas of policy: democracy promotion, counter terrorism strategy, and public diplomacy. She should also urge President Obama to address this issue both publicly and privately with the White House and NSC staff. 
 
"Third, she should alter the way America's diplomats are trained at the State Department's Foreign Service Institute. Currently the subjects of religion and religious freedom are treated in an ad hoc manner that reinforces the religion-avoidance syndrome at Foggy Bottom. Those subjects should be integrated into political and economic training so that they are viewed as part of the world U.S. diplomats are paid to engage in pursuing American interests. She should instruct the Under Secretary for Management to establish a sub-specialty on religion and religious freedom under the existing political, economic and public diplomacy career tracks that Foreign Service officers choose. 
 
"Finally, Secretary Clinton should elevate the status and authority of the State Department's Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. That position, created by the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, has been isolated bureaucratically and functionally under two administrations. The new Ambassador-at-Large should be experienced in foreign policy and capable of mainstreaming this issue into democracy promotion, counter-terrorism and public diplomacy."