{"title":"Sweden, NATO and the gendered silencing of feminist foreign policy","authors":"Katharine A. M. Wright, Annika Bergman Rosamond","doi":"10.1093/ia/iiae002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n Sweden was the first state to adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) in 2014, drawing on its state feminist tradition and support for the United Nations' Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Yet following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Sweden's move to seek NATO membership—abandoning its policy of non-alignment—a gendered silence on FFP pervaded. Significantly, this therefore predated the official abandonment of FFP following the election of a new government in October 2022. NATO membership was viewed as incompatible with FFP. Yet, NATO has long sought to project itself as a gender-just actor, including through engagement with the WPS agenda culminating in its inclusion in the 2022 Strategic Concept. Further, Sweden—as a NATO partner—had been a stalwart of the alliance's work on WPS. This article contributes to understanding the role of gendered silences in shaping strategic narratives, in this case concerning Sweden's NATO membership bid. It provides insight for policy-makers and diplomats on the impact gendered silence can have on the wider efficacy of FFP and WPS, even during processes such as NATO enlargement which might otherwise be viewed as ‘gender neutral’, particularly when imbued with urgency.","PeriodicalId":48162,"journal":{"name":"International Affairs","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Affairs","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiae002","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Sweden was the first state to adopt a Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) in 2014, drawing on its state feminist tradition and support for the United Nations' Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda. Yet following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and Sweden's move to seek NATO membership—abandoning its policy of non-alignment—a gendered silence on FFP pervaded. Significantly, this therefore predated the official abandonment of FFP following the election of a new government in October 2022. NATO membership was viewed as incompatible with FFP. Yet, NATO has long sought to project itself as a gender-just actor, including through engagement with the WPS agenda culminating in its inclusion in the 2022 Strategic Concept. Further, Sweden—as a NATO partner—had been a stalwart of the alliance's work on WPS. This article contributes to understanding the role of gendered silences in shaping strategic narratives, in this case concerning Sweden's NATO membership bid. It provides insight for policy-makers and diplomats on the impact gendered silence can have on the wider efficacy of FFP and WPS, even during processes such as NATO enlargement which might otherwise be viewed as ‘gender neutral’, particularly when imbued with urgency.
期刊介绍:
International Affairs is Britain"s leading journal of international relations. Founded by and edited at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, it has not only developed a much valued insight into European policy debates but has also become renowned for its coverage of global policy issues. Mixing commissioned and unsolicited articles from the biggest names in international relations this lively, provocative journal will keep you up-to-date with critical thinking on the key issues shaping world economic and political change.