This year, Feminist Foreign Policy (FFP) celebrates 10 years as an actual foreign policy implemented by certain states: Sweden, the first state to declare a FFP, did so in 2014. The concept of FFP has been around somewhat longer, at least since 2001 when Lisa Ann Richey discussed to what extent Denmark’s development policy was indeed feminist in a research article. While FFP – both as a concept and as exercised by states – has engendered an increasing amount of research, surprisingly few books have been written on the topic (one exception is Kristina Lunz’s “The Future of Foreign Policy is Feminist” in 2023). “Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice” is therefore a timely and much-needed attempt to take stock of this policy in a book format. The blurb states that the book aims to further “the global conversation around how countries can develop and execute approaches to foreign policy and national security that go beyond conflict prevention and use a feminist or gender lens to increase gender equality and women’s leadership in the security sector.”
The book is well-structured, and it is easy to follow the arguments across chapters. In the first chapter, the book “examines the theory underlying feminist foreign policy by outlining the numerous strands of thought, practice and advocacy that shape its formulation” (6). Here, the authors relate to, for example, human rights, women’s organizations and movements, and important international agreements (such as the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, CEDAW) and how these have provided the basis for today’s FFP. Chapter two outlines the fundamental concepts of FFP and provides the reader with clear definitions of relevant concepts. In chapter three, the authors review FFPs in practice, guiding the reader through the content of FFPs as implemented by different states, as well as how FFP has been developed in and used by multilateral platforms (such as G7). The fourth chapter discusses the global role of the U.S. and presents information on the U.S. government’s historical work on gender equality. The final chapter “investigates what would be needed to implement a feminist foreign policy within any government and specifically within the U.S. government” (111). The authors argue that, in order to implement FFP, the following is needed: “political will and leadership commitment; structural and institutional changes; the increased representation of women across government, particularly in the fields of national security and foreign policy; and the allocation of resources, both financial and otherwise” (115).
“Feminist Foreign Policy in Theory and Practice” is an interesting read to anyone interested in FFP or gender-equality in foreign policy more generally, and how and to what extent this could potentially be operationalized in the U.S. context. For non-experts on gender equality relating to U.S. foreign policy, the book will generate a lot of insights. There are, however, certain aspects that could be raised. The first is the relation between the title of the book and its content. Presented with the title, a reader might reasonably expect the book to have a more general approach than turns out to be the case – the book is predominantly focused on the U.S. empirical context, and is, for the most part, supported by American academic literature. One consequence of this focus is the almost complete lack of mentioning of the EU and its active work with gender equality in foreign policy. Particularly, the section devoted to how FFP has evolved in multilateral fora would have benefitted from the inclusion of this highly relevant case material.
An example of a possibly overly North American focus is the mentioning of Canada’s feminist government and feminist Prime Minister, where the authors cite the then Foreign Minister Cynthia Freeland saying: “[it] is important, and historic, that we have a prime minister and a government proud to proclaim ourselves feminists” (62). No doubt this was an important milestone, but the reader can easily get the impression that it represented a historic first, when Sweden’s Red-Green government (2014) was, in fact, the first to call itself a feminist government. Swedish Prime Minister Löfven also declared himself a feminist years before Prime Minister Trudeau; incidentally, a further illustration of the political will and leadership commitment that the authors argue is a “necessary precondition to the other fundamentals of a feminist foreign policy” (115).
While chapter three provides a fruitful general overview of different countries’ FFPs, it would have been beneficial to relate this information to foundational ideological and/or political ideas. Existing FFPs are, for instance, for the most part inspired by liberal feminism (although some, e.g., Mexico, have explicitly opted for an intersectional approach). What repercussions might this inherited philosophical background bring with it? Also, even while sharing such a common liberal feminism foundation, different FFP-countries still opt for different emphases (e.g., legal, market, security, or rights-based approaches) (Cf. Zhukova et al. Reference Zhukova, Rosén Sundström and Elgström2021). Why? How might this impact on-the-ground FFP practice? Such questions could have provided the basis for an interesting discussion and problematization of FFP.
Finally, the U.S. context itself could conceivably be problematized more. Even though the authors argue that there has been commitment to gender equality in foreign policy from both the main parties, for instance, external observers will no doubt note, or at least suspect, fundamental differences. The seeming backlash with regard to women’s rights, globally but also specifically in the U.S. context, is one example of an aspect that generally deserves more attention. A book such as the one under review could have provided fruitful nuance to a contested policy area in the U.S. and could have linked such political trends to the foreign policy field.
All in all, the merits of the book outweigh the “flaws”, and as already mentioned, anyone interested in this topic will surely enjoy the read.
