Discussion of Religious Divide Between U.S., European Foreign Policies

7/7/2003

From: Brookings Institution Office of Communications, 202-797-6105; email: communications@brookings.edu; or Website: http://www.brook.edu

News Advisory:

Event:

A discussion co-sponsored by the Brookings Institution, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press on the subject of "God and Foreign Policy: The Religious Divide Between the U.S. and Europe"

When:

Thursday, July 10, from 10-11:30 a.m.

Where:

Root Room, 2nd Floor, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.

Moderator: E.J. Dionne Jr., senior fellow, Governance Studies, The Brookings Institution; Columnist, Washington Post; Co-chair, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life

Presenter: Andrew Kohut, director, The Pew Research Center for the People & the Press

Respondents:

-- Craig Kennedy, president, German Marshall Fund

-- Justin Vaisse, visiting fellow, Foreign Policy Studies, Center on the U.S. and France, The Brookings Institution

Details:

Javier Solana of the European Union defines as a "cultural phenomenon" the distinctly American tendency to view international events through a strict religious lens of morality. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, he contrasted the U.S. "binary model" with the more nuanced world view of Europeans, stating that for Americans, "It is all or nothing. For us Europeans, it is difficult to deal with because we are so secular. We do not see the world in such black and white terms."

Is Solana right? Do Europeans speak a different language about religion and God? How does this affect our understanding of each other?

Drawing from the results of opinion polls conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, the Pew Research Center, and the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, a panel of experts will investigate the divide between the European and American perspectives as well as the implications for U.S. foreign policy and U.S.-European relations.

RSVP: Contact the Brookings Office of Communications by phone at 202-797-6105, or by email at communications@brookings.edu, or visit the website at http://www.brook.edu/comm/events/20030710.htm.