Is American Foreign Policy Un-Christian?

What difference might a Christian perspective make in the conduct of U.S. foreign policy? The Christian statesman navigates between the ideological extremes of cynicism and utopianism. We'll explore how biblical ideals can help frame both the objectives of American policy and the practical implementation of policy.

Joseph Loconte is a Senior Fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, where he examines the role of religious belief in strengthening democracy, advancing human rights, and reforming civil society. He helps direct EPPC's program on Evangelicals in Civic Life.

Mr. Loconte previously served as the William E. Simon Fellow in Religion and a Free Society at the Heritage Foundation, and as deputy editor of Policy Review, where he wrote widely about religion and politics. His areas of expertise include the importance of religion to American democracy, efforts to promote religious liberty, international human rights, and the relationship of Islam to democratic freedoms. In 2005, Mr. Loconte served as an expert on human rights for the congressionally mandated Task Force on U.N. Reform, and contributed to its final report,"American Interests and U.N. Reform." He testified before the House Committee on International Relations on "The United Nations Commission on Human Rights: Protector or Accomplice?"

Since 1996, Mr. Loconte has served as a regular commentator on religion and culture for National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He also has appeared on the Newshour with Jim Lehrer, CBS Morning News, Fox News, and PBS's Flashpoints. His articles have appeared in the nation's leading magazines and newspapers, including The Weekly Standard, National Review, The Public Interest, The American Enterprise, Christianity Today, First Things, Books and Culture, The Journal of Church and State, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The International Herald Tribune, USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor,and The Boston Globe.

Mr. Loconte is the editor of the book The End of Illusions: Religious Leaders Confront Hitler's Gathering Storm (Rowman & Littlefield, 2004). He also wrote Seducing the Samaritan: How Government Contracts Are Reshaping Social Services (Boston: Pioneer Institute, 1997), which documents the destructive impact of government funding on private charities.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Mr. Loconte earned his bachelor's degree in Journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana and has a master's degree in Christian History and Theology from Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. He lives in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Chris Gacek is the Senior Fellow, Regulatory Affairs at Family Research Council. Dr. Gacek received a Bachelors of Science in economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Masters and Ph.D. in political science from Stanford University, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

He has previously worked for the Heritage Foundation, the American Enterprise Institute, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (as a law clerk), the Federal Communications Commission, and a subcommittee of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (Sen. Tom Coburn, Chairman).

Dr. Gacek is the author of The Logic of Force: the Dilemma of Limited War in American Foreign Policy