This article is adapted from the introduction to our FREE Kingdom Guide to Foreign Policy which you can find at https://www.nokingbutchrist.org/foreignpolicy
A large portion of what goes on in a given day, what makes the news or attracts the comments of our friends, includes some international events. But for many of us, it is those very events, the breaking developments from all corners of the globe, that are the most difficult to digest and adequately comprehend. It is the world news and current events section of the newspaper that gets reserved for gift wrapping.
For many years, I avoided such things as well. If I ever braved to flip through news items related to the latest brouhaha in the Middle East, in Europe, in Africa, or Asia, I felt that I was looking into a very mysterious world. A world that contained so many assumptions, so much thick history and backstory, that I didn’t know where to even begin to look for ways of understanding it all.
And the alphabet soup! The endless barrage of acronyms and names, places and dates, capitals and movements. It’s enough to make anyone reach for the Comics section!
So what is the big deal anyway? Is it worth all the headache and the trouble? Why should anyone care about foreign policy and, even more so, why should Christians especially care?
What Do We Mean by Foreign Policy?
When we talk about foreign policy, we are generally referring to any political activity or policy regarding relations with foreign governments. For Americans, foreign policy is largely contained within the spheres of the Executive branch and the upper house of Congress, the Senate. In contrast to domestic policy, which deals with internal matters of commerce, taxation, courts of justice, law enforcement, etc, foreign policy is focused outward, to matters of foreign trade, diplomatic relations, and states of war and peace.
It may very well be a natural reaction for most people to disregard much of what is discussed or decided in matters of foreign policy. After all, there is often plenty to be concerned with at home, locally, and in our communities and neighborhoods. We shouldn’t have to worry about things happening hundreds or even thousands of miles away.
And yet, just this sort of thing, this political network of international relations, world events, war and peace, makes up something like half of what governments do every day on behalf of the citizens that they claim to represent. So much of our political discourse today, the division and derision, policy and budget, is determined by just these sorts of factors.
Why Should Anyone Care About Foreign Policy?
Given this natural impulse of the average citizen, concerned with their own activity, raising and providing for their families, engaging in regular relationships with their neighbors and friends, it can be difficult to consider spending the time, energy, and resources to better understand matters of foreign policy. It is often much simpler to allow “better qualified” politicians, strategists, and academics to quibble over the details of this or that issue than to wade oneself into the vast morass of international politics.
Yet foreign policy actually has a much greater impact on our day-to-day lives than we may at first realize. With the recent increase in popularity of more protectionist attitudes regarding the American economy and foreign trade, foreign relations with countries like China and Mexico have impacted the economic reality of a whole host of domestic companies and workers. Global trade treaties, like NAFTA, and economic tariffs and sanctions placed on certain industries can greatly affect the prices of many everyday goods that most Americans take for granted like food, oil, and steel.
States of war and peace between governments have also historically had far-reaching and disastrous impacts to domestic life. As Robert Higgs points out in his seminal work, Crisis & Leviathan, it is well established that times of war and conflict between America and other governments have almost always been met with the growth of government at home and the loss of liberties. And, more tragically, that growth of government and loss of liberty often persists after the particular conflict is over, with things never quite returning to the level at which they originated.
The middle and industrious classes…can have no interest apart from the preservation of peace. The honours, the fame, the emoluments of war belong not to them; the battle-plain is the harvest-field of the aristocracy, watered by the blood of the people.
Richard Cobden
And let us not forget that wars are not (yet, at least) fought without bodies, without hands, without real people carrying out the action. It is most often the most productive and most promising generation of citizens that is called upon to serve in the armed forces: we will never know quite how much economic potential has been lost by their exclusion from the workforce at the most critical of times. It is our own grandfathers that recount their war stories at family gatherings, our children and those of our neighbors that are called up for action, and more recently, our own veteran friends that are committing suicide at record numbers. The human cost, both in lives lost and moral damage to the culture, is paid by the common man, not the politician.
As the British statesman Richard Cobden once stated, “The middle and industrious classes…can have no interest apart from the preservation of peace. The honours, the fame, the emoluments of war belong not to them; the battle-plain is the harvest-field of the aristocracy, watered by the blood of the people.”
Lastly, but not leastly, anyone who frequently travels by plane cannot deny that foreign policy has an impact on their own liberties at home. Though distinct and different than previous times of war throughout history, the War on Terror has spurred innumerable changes in the everyday lives of Americans. Security in airports, hotels, amusement parks and sporting venues has indelibly changed these experiences, often for the worst. Bulk data collection and domestic intelligence gathering have become entrenched and commonplace. And the threat of terrorism has been used to justify all manner of changes to once mundane activities, all under the promise of greater security, and has perhaps destroyed any enduring sense of peacefulness and safety enjoyed during “simpler times.”
Why Should Christians Care About Foreign Policy?
For the modern Christian, all of these factors are certainly still at play but are amplified in a variety of ways. The Christian and their government have always had a strange relationship, with their ultimate loyalty owed to Christ alone but their temporal obedience often required by the chosen ruler of the day.
For the American Christian, this relationship takes on an even more complex dimension. The history of America, its people and its founding, has long been linked at some level or another to the Christian faith. While not all of those who came to America did so for religious freedom, the vast majority of them certainly valued and enjoyed it.
The significance of that link is this: that America indeed seems to occupy a position that is closely linked with Christianity, and, by extension, its government and the actions of that government are often presumed to reflect, or at least be consistent with, the teachings of Christ. If and when it has indeed been consistent, this link has hopefully left a net positive impression on observers and left those involved in beneficial circumstances.
“The prime directive for Christians in every culture and under every government is to safeguard and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
But, where and when those actions have not reflected the teachings of Christ, this can be a huge detriment to the gospel and to the way that America, along with its citizens and Christianity by extension, is perceived. This effect is compounded even further by the fact that, tragically, those negative actions have been justified by the desire to bring “civilization to the barbarous” or “Christianity to the heathen” and such actions are almost never consistent with the way that Christ intended the gospel to be spread.
For instance, around the turn of the century, during the Spanish American war, president McKinley, who at least claimed to be a devout Christian, thought that “there was nothing left for us to do but to take them all, and to educate the Filipinos and uplift them and Christianize them, and by God’s grace do the very best we could for them, as our fellow men for whom Christ also died.” While no doubt a worthwhile end, the idea that force was required to achieve that end and the ironic fact that there was already a substantial Catholic presence in the Philippines should cause us to question whether political leaders make the most effective missionaries.
Messy Alliances
As though this were not enough, America’s alliances with countries like Israel or Saudi Arabia have long skewed foreign policy decisions and continue to do so to this day. Many decisions that US government officials have made, from military action to foreign aid to diplomatic relations, have been made in lieu of what is seen at the time as actions that are beneficial to America’s allies. But that does not, of course, guarantee that America’s allies themselves have otherwise good or moral interests.
More specifically, America’s relationship with Israel has been undergirded by various forces and influences over time. But one constant has been the special relationship that the “religious right” has insisted should exist between Israel and the Christian. Despite the relatively recent formal creation of the state of Israel (1948), this undercurrent of thought in Christianity has actually existed for around 150 years and, post World War II, has been a consistent theme and influence in foreign relations.
“If support for Israel is unfounded, what evils may have been committed in the name of Christ in pursuing that support?”
In light of this “special relationship” status, the Christian is, whether they approve or not, guilty by association in the eyes of many concerning US support for Israel. That perception has had incredible ramifications for American foreign policy and while many Christians have a favorable opinion of Israel, we should ask ourselves the possible alternative question: If that support for Israel is unfounded, what evils may have been committed in the name of Christ in pursuing that support?
One need look no further than the common inverse opinion of Americans toward the actions of states that are considered Muslim countries, such as those in the Middle East and Northern Africa. If many Americans look upon such countries and their Islamic affiliation with disdain and skepticism because of that affiliation, it should not be surprising that the international community might do the same in return.
The Bottom Line
All of this adds up to a pile of reasons why being knowledgeable about foreign policy, even a tiny bit, is essential for a responsible citizen, much less the Christian. The prime directive for Christians in every culture and under every government is to safeguard and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. When the actions of those who claim to work on Christ’s behalf risk even the possibility of hindering that goal, it is worth our time and energy to understand, even at a fundamental level, whether those actions are justified.
If this post has motivated you to jump in and explore foreign policy further, why not get yourself a copy of the FREE Kingdom Guide to Foreign Policy at https://www.nokingbutchrist.org/foreignpolicy?