Sound the Alarm—Sweden Drops ‘Feminist’ and Returns to Mere ‘Foreign Policy’

While the Swedish government has reassured both domestic and international stakeholders that removing ‘feminist’ from the official description of its foreign policy will not affect its commitment to gender equality, there are many who mourn this change.

As feminist activists and officials working all over the world to advance this approach, we mourn the loss of the world’s first feminist foreign policy, an effort that has, in our view, had an important global impact.

The Ms. Q&A: Valerie Hudson on Placing Women’s Rights at the Core of Foreign Policy

“Human history has been driven by the male drive for physical security.”

Ms. had the chance to speak with Valerie Hudson, director of the Program on Women, Peace and Security at Texas A&M University. In the new book The First Political Order, which she coauthored, Hudson makes a compelling argument for placing women’s rights and representation at the core of foreign policy and national security—because what happens to half the population is obviously going to affect the health, the wealth and the security of a nation.