On Wednesday, RFI hosted a group of 14 students from the U.S. Army War College (USAWC) for a training session at our Washington, D.C. office. RFI has provided similar trainings for USAWC students each year going back to 2018.

USAWC educates senior U.S. and partner nation military officers and other senior government leaders in the formulation of military strategy. This visit was part of the class’s tour of non-governmental and governmental institutions in the D.C. area, with the aim of gaining a broader perspective on how various entities inform the development of national security policy.

Senior RFI leaders presented the domestic and international dimensions of our work to U.S. military officers, as well as officers from other countries such as Peru and Kyrgyzstan. Joining from Erbil, Iraq, RFI’s Jeremy Barker discussed our practice of engaging both civil society and government leaders to promote religious liberty and peaceful pluralism among members of diverse faiths. Barker stressed the benefits that accrue to societies when governments adopt policies maximizing the free exercise of religion.

The students also learned about RFI’s domestic work to confront state and federal government interference with Americans’ free exercise right. Each RFI presenter underscored the universal principles underlying our approach to defending this fundamental human right, including the recognition that God created every human being equal in dignity and endowed all of us with certain rights that must be respected in law and culture.

RFI Interim President David Trimble closed the session with an overview of the significance of the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018, and its relationship to the various branches of the U.S. government, including the military.