A Holy War

The Influence of Evangelical Christianity on the Iraq War

Nathan Loutsis
Introduction

❖ War of great cost and consequence

❖ Theories of cause, but what about religious influence?

❖ Faith in the White House

Source: npr.org

❖ Lack of substantive literature exploring the role of religion

Results

Evidence suggests:

❖ Religion had influence– Evangelicals specifically

Additive relationship involving religious influence

Methodology

❖ Combined model of influence for causal argument

➢ Establishing motivations

Incorporated models
Sources & Methods

❖ Qualitative analysis of individuals and organizations in and around Bush

administration prior to conflict

❖ Primary sources:

➢ Interviews, speeches, statements, memoirs, news articles, etc.

❖ Secondary sources:

➢ Academic literature, encyclopedias, etc.

Findings

❖ Motivations: Religious freedom, Christian Zionism, xenophobia,

proselytization, economic incentives

❖ Means:

➢ Societal inputs: individual influence, interest group activity, member organization/mobilization

➢ Governmental inputs: individual influence, interest group activity, member

organization/mobilization

➢ Role/Individual inputs: individual influence, interest group activity

Literature

❖ Foreign policy (Ogene and Bolton)

❖ Religious influence in politics (Wald)

❖ Religious interest groups

Conclusion

❖ Provides clarity to a controversial conflict

❖ Helps close literature gap on religion & politics / foreign policy

❖ Offers novel approach at analyzing influence

Acknowledgements

A special thank you to everyone who made this possible, especially those who
had the most impact: Professors Kier and Brunjes for their guidance and support;
Professors Gill and Jones for their inspiration; Lydia for her stability and patience;
and Mahda for her help and confidence.

Thank you!