Moving Towards a Feminist Foreign Policy

Citation:

Arshad, Yasmin. 2019. “Moving Towards a Feminist Foreign Policy.”  Pakistan Horizon 72 (1): 63-80.

Author: Yasmin Arshad

Abstract:

The feminist perspective in international relations has become an increasingly popular norm as more and more women call for foreign policy issues to be dealt with from a more gendered lens. With this view in mind, the Security Council of the UN passed Resolution 1325, advocating for inclusion of women in foreign policy, peace and security initiatives at all levels in order to increase gender equality. Sweden is the first country to have a declared feminist foreign policy for which they have created a framework highlighting policy implementations at various levels. This framework is an example of how other countries can also advance the cause of gender equality. However, policy formation and implementation have differing conclusions which is why this paper analyses Sweden's feminist foreign policy and its achievements and whether it is a framework that can be adapted by other countries in different regions as well. The region used as an example in this paper is South Asia which has a different perspective on gender from Sweden and other similar minded western countries.

Topics: Feminisms, Feminist Foreign Policy, Gendered Power Relations, Gender Equality/Inequality, Peace and Security, UN Security Council Resolutions on WPS, UNSCR 1325 Regions: Asia, South Asia, Europe, Nordic states, Northern Europe Countries: Sweden

Year: 2019