Stimson Center Spotlights Feminist Foreign Policy in South Asia
By Elaine Pasquini
Washington, DC: While feminist influence in foreign policymaking is increasing globally, South Asian countries, however, are not at the forefront on this issue. To address the topic, on September 14, the Stimson Center hosted a discussion titled “From Gender to Geopolitics: Towards a Feminist Foreign Policy in South Asia.”
Ambika Vishwanath, founder and director of the Kubernein Initiative, an advisory group that works on gender equality and other human rights issues, said feminist or gender mainstreaming in foreign policy is about having “all voices contribute to policymaking which affects your country as a whole, then your region, and then globally as well.”
The cornerstone of a feminist foreign policy framework is “who has access to power and who doesn’t and who is part of the decision-making structure and who isn’t,” said Akriti Vasudeva, editor-at-large for South Asian Voices at the Stimson Center. “It is not just about women’s rights or minorities’ rights, it’s about human rights and it has to be more than representation. The role of minorities is also about substantive contributions and taking that mindset to negotiations, to policymaking in every realm.”
Nandita Baruah, India country representative at the Asia Foundation, pointed out that any foreign policy is the “outward base of what you are doing nationally. The traditional way of how we engage with foreign policy is related to national security issues, borders and…military defense.”
In this regard, she stressed the importance of opening up areas to women such as defense and trade that tend to be male-dominated.
The rights of women and minorities need to be a top consideration when engaging with other countries on any issue, Baruah stated. “Do we ask if our engagement is going to further undermine the rights of women and minorities? How much of a bargaining chip do we bring to the table when we sit down and negotiate? We get taken up by the level of arms and ammunitions that we can sell to the countries, rather than the rights of people and improving their lives.”
In South Asia, dealing with the patriarchal system may be “the biggest battle for women in formulating a feminist foreign policy,” Baruah asserted. However, the women’s movement has made strides and “we have had some very hardcore battles and many hard-won wins in equity. I think those wins have really strengthened us and created the space for pushing the policies to look at more gender-equitable engagement globally,” she said.
Speaking on the effects of climate change on women, Stimson Center research analyst Farwa Aamer noted the enormous socio-economic impact it has on every aspect of daily life, including healthcare. “If you want to build a more sustainable and inclusive approach…you need to touch upon how women and other members of marginalized groups and gender groups are impacted by climate change and the multiple repercussions that climate change brings,” she said.
If you formulate a feminist foreign policy from a human rights aspect, Aamer said, “you are basically empowering and elevating the voices and rights of the most marginalized members of the community which happen to be women and other gender groups.”
But a gender-balanced framework does not mean placing men above women, she stressed. It means gender representation in “all areas of decision and policymaking – economics, development, cultural, climate change…and equal representation in terms of education, training and voicing opinions on different issues.” The perspectives of all minorities “will provide that additional focus that you need to create the inclusive framework required for existing and future challenges.”
Shafqat Munir, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Terrorism at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies, posited that, with regard to gender mainstreaming, too much attention is focused on participation, numbers, statistics and tokenism without “…really effecting major policy change.”
Over the past two decades, he noted, Bangladesh experienced a “mind change” in its policy formulation and achieved “great results,” adding that Bangladeshi women now play a large role in UN peacekeeping operations. “Once we were able to get beyond the whole idea of tokenism or just looking at numbers and actually effected policy change…into policy formulation, we were able to achieve results.”
The key challenge in formulating policy changes, Munir argued, is a change of mindset and moving away from a “masculine construct.” At the same time, however, “it is also important to engage with men who understand the importance of a feminist policy construct and…educate the male participants in the policymaking process on how the rights, roles and importance of women need to be at the centerpiece of foreign policy formulation.” It is important, he said, “to keep in mind everyone’s interests and not just the interests of one community.”
“We have challenges, but it is also heartening to note that we have also come a long way,” he pointed out. “Many of the things that are happening now would not have been possible decades ago. We have to keep on pushing forward.”
“One of the hallmarks of our [South Asian] culture and civilization is that we always put community before self,” Munir said in conclusion. “At a time when the world is about to grapple with significant challenges in the post-Covid landscape, I think this is an important lesson that South Asia can offer the world, particularly as we look at a greater role of gender within the context of geopolitics.”
(Elaine Pasquini is a freelance journalist. Her reports appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.Ink.)
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