Evangelical Protestants and US Foreign Policy

Описание: Evangelical Protestants and US Foreign Policy: US Policy Toward China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia

Evangelical Protestants in the U.S. are well-known for affecting social and cultural policies, but their influence extends into foreign policy in ways that are often overlooked. While studies show Evangelical voters’ unique foreign policy preferences, little attention has been given to how these preferences impact US foreign policy—especially beyond issues related to Israel and the Middle East. This article addresses this gap by exploring Evangelicals’ influence on an increasingly important foreign policy issue: U.S. policy toward adversarial states, such as China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia. Analyzing congressional votes, this article demonstrates that Evangelical voters drive their representatives toward a more hawkish stance on these states. However, this influence is primarily indirect, as Evangelical voters push their representatives toward a broader hawkish foreign policy, which then manifests in tougher stances on these states. By uncovering this ideological shift driven by Evangelicals, this study highlights the importance of religion in shaping U.S. foreign policy beyond the Middle East, offering new insight into the forces driving America’s global strategies.

This research investigates how members of Congress are affected by Evangelical Christians when they make decisions on U.S. policy toward China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, and Russia.

Gyung-Ho Jeong is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. His research interests include Legislative Politics (American and Comparative), American Politics, Foreign Policy, and Political Economy. In particular, he is interested in how Congress makes decisions on public policies, including civil rights, immigration, trade, and foreign policy issues. He is also interested in legislative politics of Korea.

The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions.