A provocative new analysis challenges the foundational assumptions of American foreign policy. Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú posits a startling thesis: the course of U.S. international relations has been commandeered not by secular strategic interests, but by theology.
Beyond Realpolitik: A Fundamental Shift
For decades, conventional wisdom held that U.S. foreign policy was a product of realpolitik, economic interests, and Cold War ideologies. Adémólá-Olátéjú's argument, detailed in the piece 'The theology that hijacked American foreign policy,' suggests a paradigm shift. The claim is that a specific, operative theological framework has supplanted or deeply infused these traditional levers, creating a statecraft that answers to a different set of priorities.
The Charge of a 'Hijacking'
The language of a 'hijacking' is intentionally charged. It implies a takeover—a deviation from an intended or legitimate course. In this context, it suggests the machinery of the State Department, the Pentagon, and the intelligence community is being operated according to a script not found in the standard diplomatic playbook. The navigational charts, as the analysis frames it, have been swapped for scripture.
Identifying the Theology at the Wheel
This raises immediate questions: which theology? The American religious landscape is diverse, but the analysis points toward a coherent, identifiable set of doctrines gaining disproportionate influence. It likely references a strand of thought that views America's global role through an eschatological or covenantal lens, where international alliances and conflicts are interpreted as part of a larger divine narrative.
Profound Practical Consequences
The implications of such a shift are vast. It could reframe alliances not on mutual defense or trade, but on perceived religious alignment. It could redefine enemies based on theological, rather than purely geopolitical, terms. This analysis forces a re-examination of recent decades of U.S. foreign policy, asking whether theological underpinnings have been a silent, powerful current all along.
