Religious Freedom and Democratization in the Middle East: Links and Challenges

The meeting is co-sponsored by the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) and the Middle East Program of the Woodrow Wilson Center.

Speakers: Thomas Melia, Deputy Executive Director of Freedom House and former Director of Middle East Programs at the National Democratic Institute (NDI).

Thomas Farr, Visiting Associate Professor of Religion and World Affairs at Georgetown University and former Director of the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom.

Joe Stork, Deputy Director of the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch and principal author of the recent report on Egypt, Prohibited Identities: State Interference with Religious Freedom.

Introductory remarks by Haleh Esfandiari, Director of Middle East Program, Woodrow Wilson Center and moderated by Andrew Albertson, Executive Director, Project on Middle East Democracy.

Freedom of religion - the right to think, believe, and worship in accordance with the dictates of conscience, without the fear of government persecution - is a fundamental human right, and an important element in the development of liberal democratic political orders.

Despite progress in Middle Eastern states, the region remains home to many countries with policies that impinge on religious rights. The largest restrictions on religious freedom appear in Middle Eastern societies where fundamental political and civil rights have been denied and progress in democratic reform has been most stalled. In some states, the marginalization of a sector of society through systemic, religious-based discrimination has anchored a destabilizing environment that has posed internal and regional security challenges.

The United States has denounced abuses of religious freedoms. In the Middle East, however, this poses special challenges. Promotion of religious freedom can be mistaken for undue interference on behalf of adherents of particular faiths, undermining other areas of US policy. Likewise, some fear that hasty elections could actually undermine minority rights, including religious freedom.

What consequences does the absence of religious freedom pose for US interests in the region? What connections should policymakers draw between the advance of religious freedom in Middle Eastern countries and the fate of democratic reforms? How can the U.S. promote religious freedom and democratization simultaneously, and what risks does that raise in the Middle Eastern context?