Philosophically, America’s Commission on International Religious Freedom (a bipartisan body that advises Congress and the White House) is in step with the Obama mood. Its latest global report stresses that in many places, Muslims are victims of discrimination, not its perpetrators. Suffering Muslims (be they Uighurs in China or Shias in repressive Sunni states like Saudi Arabia) need America’s support—as part of a foreign policy that favours just, tolerant societies. So the commission believes, and so the Obama people, in theory, say too.

But how far will the president go in scolding states identified by the commission? Its report adds five new countries (including Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan) to the eight already classed as “countries of particular concern” over religious liberty. Among 11 countries placed on the commission’s “watch list” are Afghanistan, Indonesia, Tajikistan, Turkey—and Egypt. Hillary Clinton, the secretary of state, will meet the commissioners soon, and they will have some hard questions for her.