The Promotion of First Amendment Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy

Abstract

In order to highlight the necessity of promoting First Amendment rights guaranteed in the United States Constitution as part of foreign policy committed to democratic advancement abroad, our Task Force has created the following report that examines both the intrinsic value behind these rights and offers creative, specifically tailored policy recommendations to implement the strategies we find particularly useful in addressing this issue. Successfully generating and constructing policy to promote U.S. interests from a position of universal morality and global self-interest is essential to the recognition and advancement First Amendment rights as part of American influence abroad. In the past, U.S. foreign policy has been concerned with promotion of democracy but not specifically with advocating for and increasing access to the fundamental freedoms of the First Amendment. The freedoms of religion, speech, press, petition, and assembly may not be well integrated into the political systems of nations where democracy is absent, nascent, unstable, or failing to thrive. There must be public interest and support for these freedoms as well as governmental practices that align with them; simple democratic processes and a vote are not enough to make a democracy function to its fullest potential.