Canada's Office of Religious Freedom: notes for a genealogy

s/RésumésCanada's new Office of Religious Freedom is entrusted with the task of protecting and promoting religious freedom all over the world. In this policy commentary, I argue that the mission to defend religious freedom abroad has a long and troubling genealogy. I begin by exploring the political work accomplished by the concept of “religious freedom” in the context of the encounter between the powers of Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. I then move to the more recent geopolitical initiatives undertaken by the United States to protect “persecuted” religious minorities worldwide. Finally, I look at the local reception of these initiatives in contemporary Egypt.