Susan Wunderink interviewed Thomas Farr at Christianity Today about his book, World of Faith and Freedom: Why International Religious Liberty is Vital to American National Security. He says:
The function of advancing religious freedom has never—and I say somewhat surprisingly [not] under the Bush administration—never been integrated into the broader foreign policy of the United States. This whole [IRFA] thing was a backwater, it was compartmentalized.
Both ambassadors, [Robert] Seiple and [John] Hanford, did some very good things. Because of their personal persistence, they both got people out of jail. I would guess that over ten years there are hundreds of people who are walking free because of their efforts.
But the rule is that we’re not actually advancing religious freedom. We’re cursing the darkness of persecution.
Read the full interview here.