Suzan Johnson Cook, the former U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom has said she stepped down from the position earlier this month because she wanted to pursue private sector jobs and provide her sons with a “debt-free college education,” according to a Religious News Service story by Lauren Markoe. She served nearly 30 months in the position.
The RNS reported that some have criticized Johnson Cook's tenure as one that failed to address the world’s most persecuted victims of religious intolerance and that others have questioned how much authority the position actually holds.
The RNS reported that some have criticized Johnson Cook's tenure as one that failed to address the world’s most persecuted victims of religious intolerance and that others have questioned how much authority the position actually holds.
RNS quoted international human rights lawyer Nina Shea as saying that Johnson Cook failed in her capacity to address the persecution of Copts in Egypt. Shea was further quoted as saying Johnson Cook’s lack of action on Coptic suffering was a failure to address the “persecution of the largest single religious minority in the Near East in 1,300 years.”
Johnson Cook visited 27 countries in her tenure and is only the third person to hold the post since its establishment in 1998. She has expressed interest in working on corporate boards, the speaking circuit, NGO consultancy, and relaunching her own speaker’s bureau.
Johnson Cook visited 27 countries in her tenure and is only the third person to hold the post since its establishment in 1998. She has expressed interest in working on corporate boards, the speaking circuit, NGO consultancy, and relaunching her own speaker’s bureau.
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