Abstract:  The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 has aimed at “international religious freedom” and been an important part of American foreign policy since its very beginning. However, the reality goes against its original good wishes regrettably: instead of promoting religious freedom and reducing religious prosecution, more harmful varieties have increased, i.e., religious terrorism and transnational terrorism. The root cause of the failure of “religious freedom policy” is that the whole perspective to understand and treat “religious freedom” is American. The founding of “Office of FaithBased Community Initiatives” marks the turn of U.S. attention from “religious freedom” to the emphasis on contacts with overseas religious leaders and organizations in order to promote sustainable development, more effective humanitarian assistance, pluralism and human rights including religious freedom. The shift from “religious freedom” to “religious engagement”, speaking of the course of development of U.S. international religious freedom policy, is not simply a change of personnel, but also a strategic adjustment made by the Obama Administration over the controversial U.S. international religious freedom policy.

Key words:  The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, religious engagement, the rightwings of Christianity, the United States